Ms Robin Hood
by XxGoddess AthenaxX
Summary: Sakura is the CEO of a billion dollar company, so is Sasuke. Both live double lives. Can the hero of the city resist the new femme fatale or will he bend the rules and have his heart stolen instead in both lives he leads? AU
1. Playgirl Meets Playboy

Hey peoplez. I've had this on my computer for a while and I had the urge to post it. Please read and review. It is AU

Disclaimer: I NO own Naruto. If I did, Sasuke would be mine;-b

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**Chapter 1**

**Playgirl Meets Playboy**

"Miss you're agenda for tomorrow is extremely packed," Edward said. Edward had been the family butler for years.

"What's on the list," Sakura asked. She let the warmth of the water hit her.

"First you have breakfast with your brother.'

"Name the importants, forget the casualties."

"Yes Miss. You will be departing for Konoha City tomorrow. Everything is prepared for you. Your team is waiting for you there."

"Any jobs tomorrow?"

"A simple one Miss. Diamonds from the museum."

"Simple," Sakura shut off the shower taps and took the towel that Edward was holding out. She wrapped it around her body. "Anything left here?"

"Priceless artefacts Miss. Shouldn't take more than a few minutes."

"Boring. Do you have the info on my future partners?"

"Yes Miss," Edward pulled out a folder. "The Eldest of the two is Itachi Uchiha. Age 25, gender is male. Weighs 160 pound and is 5 foot 95. He is the advisor in the company while his younger brother takes the role of the CEO. The younger is Sasuke Uchiha. Age 22, gender is male. Weighs 160 pounds and is 6 on the dot. He is what you kids call a playboy. The eldest is somewhat of a playboy but the younger Uchiha's record is almost as bad as your is Miss."

"He must be one looker."

"Indeed Miss. He's already slept with one of your 'friends,' Miss Karin."

"He must be blind," Sakura changed into her usual black evening outfit.

"Apparently he was drunk and he, as you would say nowadays, dropped her like yesterdays news."

"That's more like the kind of guy that I can do business with."

"Not that I should speak so out of place Miss, but a word of advice."

"Yes."

"Don't get involved with him beyond business Miss."

"I can promise but I can't guarantee," Sakura winked. "Now if you'll excuse me I have one job left in this place."

"Indeed Miss."

"You sure you want to retire and live in this boring town Edward."

"Indeed Miss," Edward smiled sadly. "I'm afraid my age has begun to catch up with me and I can no longer be of much service to you Miss. But I believe that Miss Ino and Miss Hinata will take much better care of you and be of more service in your nightly activities."

"Well then Edward, it has been as you say a pleasure to work with you old man. See you around," Sakura said and put in her mask. "Later Eddie"

"Later Miss," Edward sighed at her pet name for him. "Take care Sakura."

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"Sasuke open the damn door," Itachi yelled. He had been standing and waiting outside of his brother's bedroom door for ten minutes.

"Go away. I have company and I'm not willing to give her up just yet."

"If you don't stop screwing around and get your ass into gear, I swear you'll be cut off completely from you inheritance, the company and the Uchiha name."

"Fuck off Itachi."

"Fine, I won't tell you about the gorgeous female that's going to become our business partner," Itachi smirked when he heard his brother tell his 'company' that he would be back.

"What do you want?" Sasuke came out of his room with just his boxers on.

"Get dressed and send you _friend_ in there home first."

"Fuck no-ok," Sasuke said quickly. He turned and went back into his room and minute later a fierce blonde came storming out. Itachi smirked at this and began to walk to his office. He knew that showing his brother a picture of their business partner would insure some progress.

"Here is the information that you wanted on Miss Haruno," Deidara said, handing a file to him.

"Thanks," Itachi opened the door to his office and walked in with Deidara following

"Excuse the naivety but why do you want info on the biggest playgirl on the planet."

"Aren't you exaggerating?"

"She's slept with more guys that Sasuke has with girls."

"Can't be that bad."

"20% percent of them were two night stands, 10% percent had a relationship with her for three days, 4% percent had a relationship for a week and .5% percent had a relationship for two weeks."

"And the other 65.5%?"

"One-nighters."

"Wow, those stats are worse than Sasuke's."

"But on the upside she does own one of the biggest companies in the technology and security industry," Deidara added. "She's also one of the smartest security designers and none of her security designs have been broken into."

"Upside," Itachi read through the info in front of him.

"She's also one of the most recognised designers and geniuses in the world."

"Anything to be wary about?"

"Not that I found. Well apart from half the male population having seen her everything."

"Don't even think about it," Itachi warned.

"Think about what?" Deidara asked innocently.

"You and your perverted weaknesses."

"I'm not as bad as some," Deidara smirked. His comment received a snort.

"You're as perverted as it gets," Sasuke said from behind him.

"Well look who joined the land of the living," Deidara was one of the only people who could talk to Sasuke like that without being intimidated.

"Fuck off."

"Anyway, like I was saying, I'm not as perverted as some. I mean she poses in some exotic mags, a couple of shots on the net."

"She just as bad as you are," Itachi said to Sasuke.

"Shut up," Sasuke glared at his brother. "Now what did you want me for."

"This is our new business partner," Itachi showed Sasuke another, more appropriate, picture of Sakura.

"She's on the cover of Playboy," Sasuke stated.

"She's also the owner of one of the biggest tech and industrial companies."

"I know that. Playboy doesn't just show you a bunch of naked or half naked women."

"Our companies are merging together. This increases profit for all of us. It also expands the influence of the other company as well as ours. It means more business that normal. Double the amount of employees and therefore more money for you to blow," Itachi said in terms that his brother understood.

"If Uchiha Corp and Haruno Tech are merging then what will it be called?"

"Miss Haruno and I have decided on U & H Tech."

"So how's the business structure gonna work?"

"The four of us will be partners. You do the same thing you do now except the work will be shared between you and Miss Haruno. Her brother and I will have the same things to do just shared. And before you ask your salary will pretty much instantly double."

"So that means I get a new car. Ok, so I assume that you have her profile in front of you."

"Precisely."

"So read it out."

"Deidara," Itachi motioned for him to talk.

"Sakura Haruno, Age 21, female. Weighs 119 pounds and is 5 foot 7. Major playgirl but a talented designer and genius. She is the CEO of Haruno Tech. Her record is as clean as it gets. Seriously. She showers like five times a day."

"It was mentioned that she has a brother," Sasuke said.

"That was hard to find because he doesn't play a very active role in the business and doesn't associate himself with it," Deidara said.

"So is he like a ghost or something?"

"No, he does what I do. Miss Haruno is the main figure of Haruno Tech. She does all of the public stuff while her brother advises and guides her with decisions," Itachi replied. "Kinda like I do except he doesn't do the public thing."

"So what do you have on him?" Sasuke asked Deidara.

"Kiba Inuzuka, Age 24, male. Weighs 156 pounds and is 5 foot 9. He is the advisor of Haruno Tech but is more or less his sister's personal trainer. He carries a dog around with him wherever he goes. The dog is named Akamaru. He is 1 foot 1 and weighs 8 pounds. He is about a year old."

"A dog?"

"Yeah, the women that he's been with since he's gotten the dog have been in love with Akamaru and him. You could say they complete each other."

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"Wake up Sakura," a sharp, loud voice interrupted said female's sleep.

"Go piss off Tsunade," Sakura mumbled and hid her head under the covers of her new king size bed. She was staying in a five star hotel until she decided to get a more permanent place.

"Wake up or else you're going to be late for your meeting with Uchiha Corp and your business partners won't be too happy if you're late. You'll be making bad-"

"Ino, call them and reschedule."

"Fine forehead," Ino said. She was sitting on one of the couches in room.

"-and then they're going to drop the merger and-"

"It's been rescheduled to dinner tomorrow," Ino said as she slid her phone shut.

"Heard that Tsunade? There's no need to worry. Now go away and let me sleep. I just got off the damn plane and you're already down my throat. Remind me to fire you when I wake up," Sakura heard the older woman use a couple of profanities before she drifted back off to sleep.

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"Sasuke wake up," Itachi said poking his younger brother's forehead.

"Fuck off," Sasuke groaned and turned away.

"We're going to be late and then you're not going to meet her."

"Fuck off."

"Wake up or Deidara can have the honours of pouring ice water over your head."

"I hate to repeat myself but fuck off."

"Get you're lazy fucking ass out of the fucking bed Sasuke Uchiha or I'll let _him_ loose."

"You wouldn't dare," Sasuke said sitting up.

"Oh Nar-"

"Shut the fuck up if you know what's good for you," Sasuke growled. "I just got in. Can't you bail me out of the meeting? As much as I would like to meet _the_ Sakura Haruno, I like my sleep more."

"No way-hold that thought," Itachi flipped open his cell phone. "You're in luck. Miss Haruno is jet lagged so the meeting's been rescheduled to tomorrow evening over dinner."

"Good. Now get the hell outta my room," Sasuke fell back into his pillow and instantly passed out."

"Patrolling the city at night has its negatives," Itachi looked down at his sleeping brother and shook his head.

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"Your first job is going to be a small one," Ino said.

"So where are the diamonds?" Sakura asked, getting into her outfit. It consisted of black skin-tight pants, knee length boots, gloves and a long sleeve, velvet zip-up leather hoody. She had a black wig on and brown contacts in.

"The museum is about 20 minutes away on rooftop," Ino handed her the directions. "Memorise them."

"Done," Sakura handed them back to her. "What's the security like?"

"Fifty guards in total. Ten in each wing. They're situated so than if anything happens to one, two others will know about it."

"Alarms?"

"One in each wing. The guards are situated near panic buttons. There are infrared sensors all around. Basically if a guard has to pee they have to hold it until their shift is over."

"Anything I need to be worried about?"

"There's hero in the city. He's always wearing black. The main things to identify him by are black sleeveless trench with a hood, long-sleeve black shirt and belts around his arms."

"Trench in summer?" Sakura picked up her bag and glasses and checked that she had enough knives on her person. "Later."

"Don't flirt with him if you meet him," Ino said as Sakura jumped out of the window.

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Sakura hung upside-down from a glass window in the museum. Her legs were still outside and her hands were holding onto the window pane. The roof was at an angle so she had to tighten her grip slightly when she flipped down. She landed silently and looked around for the guards. She saw eight of them. She smacked her forehead lightly when she looked at the map of the museum behind her. She was in the wing furthest from where she should be. She pulled out her glasses and put them on. Her vision was filled with infrared beams running all over the show. She moved through them with ease and got behind the first guard. She knocked him out without a sound and move onto the next. By the time she had reached the diamond exhibit, all of the guards had been knocked out. She made quick work of stealing the diamonds and replacing them with fakes. She was getting the last and most valuable diamond when she froze.

"I know girl can't resist diamonds and that they are a girl's best friend but the notice in front of you does say 'do not touch'," Sakura shivered at the deep spine-chilling voice.

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Pretty please r&r. Make me happy


	2. Dinner

Yay people like this story. It makes me happy that I got reviews. This chappie is dedicated to ShinigamiRyuuko, -xEMOtIoNaLLyCOnSTipaTEDx-, minniemousemom and SasoLOVE111. Thank you for reviewing, it made my day.

Disclaimer : I don't own the smexy blond ninja or his HOT emo best friend.

**Chapter 2**

**Dinner**

"I guess I just couldn't help myself," Sakura smirked even though she couldn't see the person behind her; she knew he was smirking as well. Her voice was softer and more provocative than normal. She spun around in the museum to come face to face with the hero of the city. A smirk adorned what was seen of his handsome face and complimented his raven locks. The trench coat he wore hid his eyes and most of his other features.

"Maybe I could help you to put it back," Sasuke offered. His voice was deeper than usual (thanks to his designs he couldn't afford to have his voice recogniser pick up his voice).

"Sorry, I like it and I think I want to keep it," Sakura was behind him in an instant. She stood on her toes to reach his ear. "Although, if you can keep up for a while I might just reconsider."

"Keep up?" Sasuke was behind her, whispering in her ear. "I can **know** I can do that."

"You sure _Hero_?" Sakura asked as she leaned back. "No one's been able to before."

"I'm not 'no one'," Sasuke wrapped his arms around her waist and ran a hand up her sides.

"I don't think the hero's supposed to be flirting with the thief," Sakura purred into his ear.

"No hero's perfect," Sasuke found a patch of skin on her neck that wasn't covered by her hoody and bit down lightly. Her hood fell off to reveal jet black hair and glasses covering her eyes. Sakura bit her lip when he nipped at her neck and bit back a moan when his hand slid over her chest.

"Isn't there some sort of hero rule to not flirt with the enemy?"

"I've never been one to follow rules," Sasuke smirked when the woman in his arms squeaked as he squeezed her breasts through her hoody. The sound of police vehicles came to their ears and the two paused.

"Well this's been fun but that's my cue to leave," Sakura slid out of Sasuke's hold and flipped her hood up before he could catch a glimpse of her face. "Oh and I doubt you'll be able to catch up."

"Let's see," Sasuke advance forward and chased her through the museum. Sakura hopped onto a ledge and then to the window before leaving with the diamonds in her backpack.

"I forgot the expensive ones," Sakura smacked her forehead as she jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Soon she felt a presence following her and saw the hero from earlier following her. Sakura jumped from rooftop to rooftop and tried avoiding being caught. He was on her tail but there was yet to be found someone who could match her speed.

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Sasuke chased the thief on the rooftops of the city. He was catching up while she moved to the higher buildings. Suddenly she disappeared and he stopped the chase. He looked all around in the area but couldn't find her. He sighed and dropped to a lower building and pulled down his hood. He let the breeze mess up his hair before taking off in the direction of his home.

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"Ino, Hinata, you two are gonna be doing the same things from now on. Except you'll be sharing responsibilities," Sakura yawned. She had gotten a total of four hours of sleep before Ino came barging into her room, dragging Hinata with her.

"So did you finish the job?" Ino asked.

"Almost," Sakura flopped back onto her pillow.

"What do you mean almost?"

"I didn't get the most expensive ones."

"Tsunade won't be happy," Hinata sighed. She had arrived in Konoha a few days before Sakura could. Sakura had spent the past two weeks fighting her father and the board members to get them to let Hinata leave Hyuga Inc and join Sakura's team.

"Lemme guess, you flirted with the hero?" Ino asked.

"Maybe," Sakura could feel Ino's glare on her covered figure.

"So, Sakura how did you get Neji to let me go?" Hinata changed to conversation.

"Hinata, let's just say that he's now part of my stats," Hinata blushed.

"YOU SLEPT WITH HIM! SAKURA YOU ARE SO DEAD IF TSUNADE FINDS OUT," Ino screamed.

"That is _if_. Besides, he didn't complain," Sakura buried her head in between the sheets and drifted back off to sleep. "Besides **both** of us benefited."

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"Wake up teme," Naruto said bouncing up and down on Sasuke's bed.

"Fuck off dobe."

"Come on, don't you wanna meet Miss Sakura Haruno?"

"What time is it?"

"Five."

"Fuck off."

"In the afternoon."

"Shit," Sasuke threw the covers off the bed and ran into the bathroom.

"You may want to hurry, dinner's at six," Naruto sat on the bed and waited while his friend showered. "Itachi said that you should wear a tux or a suit."

"Fuck no," Sasuke said emerging from the bathroom with a towel around his waist. Water dripped from his hair and his body was covered in droplets of water. "Don't you also have to get ready?"

"I don't take as much time as you do teme," Naruto smirked and ran out of the room before an alarm clock came flying his way.

"Not another one," Itachi shook his head and looked up at the ceiling. Alarm clocks never lasted long on Sasuke's bedside table.

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"Should I wear the red one or the black one?" Sakura asked her two best friends.

"Black," Ino said from Sakura's king sized bed, Hinata sitting next to her.

"Red," Tsunade said from the doorway.

"Why black and why red?"

"Black will contrast you and it shows more skin," Ino and Hinata both nodded. The black dress was strappy and was low cut.

"The red will contrast your hair and bring it out while the slit on the side of the dress gives people a taste of what's under while not giving them a full view, therefore making them want to see more," Tsunade expertly commented.

"I agree, I'll keep the black number for a later dinner date," Sakura dropped the towel that was hugging her body and slipped into the dress.

"I suggest the red shoes with a medium heel. You don't want to kill your feet," Tsunade looked at the pair sitting on the bed. "Hinata you need to go a bit bolder then lip gloss, try a tinted pink lipstick. It'll keep your complexion while giving you an air of superiority. Ino, lighten up on the red, it'll kill your blondness."

"Tsunade, how come you're now coming along?" Ino asked rather annoyed.

"Because I have better things to do then baby-sit," Tsunade said and walked out of the room.

"I'm guessing Kiba bailed as well," Ino sighed.

"Doesn't he always?" Sakura sighed as well.

"I'll call down for the limo," Hinata sighed completing their triple sigh.

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Sasuke stood mesmerised when the pink-haired beauty walked into the restaurant. He couldn't take his eyes off her. She was so breath-taking his eyes almost popped out when he realised she was standing in front of him.

"Hi, you must be Sasuke Uchiha," Sakura smiled and shook his hand.

"Sakura Haruno," Sasuke smiled as well. He saw Naruto almost faint from the corner of his eye.

"Itachi," Itachi extended his hand and shook Sakura's.

"I apologise that my brother couldn't make it, but he hates to attend business dinners."

"Not a problem. This is Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke's best friend and right hand man. And this is Deidara, my right hand man," Itachi motioned to the two standing behind him.

"This is Ino Yamanaka and Hinata Hyuga," Sakura said stepping back. "My two best friends and as you say right hand girls."

"How ever did you get your hand on a Hyuga?"

"Trade secret," Sakura smiled. Itachi smiled and led them to the table. They were in the fanciest French restaurant in Konoha.

"Hey Sakura, isn't that Kiba?" Ino asked. Sakura looked up in time to see Kiba slip out of the door of the restaurant.

"He's dead, when I see him," Sakura sighed and looked at the males in front of her.

"So what made you chose to merge with Uchiha Corp?" Sasuke asked. Sakura felt shivers run up her spine at the sound of his voice.

"Well Uchiha Corp and Haruno Tech have similar ideas which maximises production as well as profit. It extends the influence of both of our companies and increases the amount of work that can be done," Sakura smiled at the male's looks. "I also need a break from work overload."

"Don't we all?" Itachi smiled. _At least she knows what she's talking about._

"What would you say makes the best business?" Sasuke asked.

"Well I think that by having people who were once in the same field should be the best to do the designing which guarantees success."

"How so?" Itachi looked interested.

"It's not about the best qualified in my design department it's about those with the most experience."

"Isn't that the same thing?" Sasuke heard the sound of typing and saw Hinata taking notes. He noticed her blushing and saw Naruto looking over her shoulder watching her work.

"Well seeing as how we're going to be business partners I should share one important business secret. My design team consists of the best hackers."

"Why them?" Itachi was confused.

"Well I have the best hackers on designs that involve things that could get hacked such as computer systems and electronic back vaults. This takes hackers off the streets and makes sure that the systems are hack proof."

"I understand most of it," Sasuke sighed.

"Because they are the best, it makes it almost ten to twenty times harder for people to hack those systems. It is a security guarantee and it ensures future business due to the inability to have to systems broken into," Sakura smiled.

"How did you get a hold of the hackers? I doubt they were willing to show themselves because of legal issues," Itachi was making sure everything was legal (who would want a company that could be destroyed in a matter of moments thanks to legalities?).

"Well, when I took over the company, I designed the system myself. I made sure that it was hack proof and then sent out and invitation for hackers to get into my system. Anyone who hacked in was sent a virus. If they could hack through the virus they would get a more severe one. The process continued until I was left with the best of the best and the only way to get rid of the virus was with a programme that I designed."

"There are plenty of legal issues with employing hackers," Sasuke pointed out.

"I have an arrangement with the higher ups in society. I, in their terms, take criminals off the street and they give me diplomatic immunity therefore allowing me to keep things running. It benefits them because there are less people trying to hack through government files and it's using hackers to hack proof systems. Plenty of people benefit and best of all it holds no legalities that could affect people later on."

"You've really thought this through," Itachi smiled. He was impressed. Not many people that were potential business partners were so involved in their businesses let alone thought every little detail through.

"I do my best to ensure success. By using hackers I have the most experience people designing my systems. It was based on pure assumption that it would work and years later it proved me right," Sakura smiled again.

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An: Please drop a review and check out my poll. It helps me know which story to update faster


	3. Fatale Seductress

Hey you guys. How ya hangin? I've been swamped with homework and I kinda used all of my internet airtime so this is out a little later then planned. But you'll forgive me right;b

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters. I just own the plot line and my OCs

**Chapter 3**

**Fatale Seductress**

Dinner went well considering that the talk revolved around business mostly. Ino and Deidara were listening half-heartedly while Hinata took notes and Naruto kept on staring at what she was doing.

"Earlier you said that you have the best of the best?" Sasuke asked.

"Mostly. I have two of my best with me currently. Ino and Hinata are two of my most talented. However there is one that refused to join my team."

"So do you have the infamous femme fatale that keeps eluding the authorities?" Sasuke asked.

"As far as I know she isn't on my team of designers."

"Is she the one that refused to join?" Naruto asked, finally paying attention to the conversation.

"No, he sitting over there," Sakura smiled at Deidara.

"Deidara?" Itachi asked in surprise.

"Yes, he was the first one to almost completely hack my system. When I offered him a position in my company, he refused to take it," Sakura sighed.

"Hacking is an art. You can't buy it from me," Deidara pouted.

"I didn't know you could hack so well. I mean I knew you could hack but that much?" Itachi asked.

"As far as I've seen, he is one of the best hackers in the world. Second to very few. I've only found four people that can hack further, better and faster than he can," Sakura smiled again. "I can only compliment you on having someone as skilled as he is."

"You can have him if it means I don't have such a big hypocrite on my case all the time," Itachi smirked.

"Back to the topic of the femme fatale. Out of curiosity, what is your opinion on her?" Sasuke asked.

"I personally think that she's nothing more that a criminal. She is skilled to be able to have never been caught. I'll hand her that much but in her case, once a criminal always a criminal," Sakura had a serious look on her face. "Even though most of my team once was no better they've given up a life of hacking and are helping to prevent it. She on the other hand if I'm not mistaken has been stealing valuable items for around six years."

"People can change can't they?" Itachi asked.

"Well that depends on the person now doesn't it," Sakura's expression lightened and she leaning back into the chair. A phone began to ring and everyone looked at Ino.

"It's yours," Ino handed her the phone and she answered the called.

"Hello," Sakura answered nervously. She held the phone away from her ear and cringed. Everyone could hear shouting coming through the speaker. Sakura groaned and brought the phone to her ear. "Tsunade calm down. I'll take care of it later. I'm currently occupied…No ways…fine."

"Not good?" Ino asked putting the phone into her back.

"Sorry, but my aunt isn't very soft speaking at times," Sakura apologised. She smiled weakly. "I'm gonna have to bail out here."

"No problem," Itachi stood when the females stood. The rest of the guys quickly stood and bid them goodnight.

"Is there any time that we could meet and get to know the other better because we're going to be working together soon if things go according to plan?" Sakura asked Sasuke.

"Do you have anything planned for tomorrow?" Sasuke looked at her. He saw a glint in her eyes that he hadn't seen in anyone's eyes in a long time.

"Not at all."

"Then how about a late breakfast or an early lunch?"

"Sure."

"I'll pick you up around ten."

"I'll see you then. Oh and I'm staying in the La Grande Hotel's penthouse suite."

"See you then," Sasuke watched her get into the limo and watched it drive off.

"Teme's got a crush," Naruto smirked.

"Shut up dobe. You were eyeing her friend the entire night."

"Just don't do anything stupid with her Sasuke," Itachi put his hand on his brother's shoulder. "If you do then something irreversible can happen."

"I'm not stupid. I know the consequences with sleeping with business partners- some get emotionally attached and then have panic attacks when things don't work out and others hate your guts," Sasuke sighed.

"That's why some of them have broken hearts while others have restraining orders on them," Naruto laughed. The four of them walked out of the restaurant and walked towards the valet parking. "So are you going to tell us what happened last night?"

"What? I went out, I came back and I went to sleep," Sasuke replied. He played the ignorant role for a while.

"You know, with the thief last night."

"And don't try to deny that you met her last night because there were pictures of you chasing her on the news and in the papers," Deidara added.

"I preferred you better when you were being quiet," Sasuke mumbled.

"So what happened? You always catch the bad guys," Naruto asked.

"Or was it because it was a girl?" Itachi asked.

"Not you too," Sasuke complained. "She out ran me ok?"

"Impossible," Itachi looked puzzled.

"She's fast," Sasuke stated. "That and flirting with the enemy leads to being slightly distracted and giving them a slight head start."

"Bro, I'm starting to worry about you," Itachi sighed. "Don't get involved with her. You remember what happened last time you got involved with the enemy in business and in the good guy, bad guy world."

"Yeah, she was killed. How can I forget when you're constantly reminding me about it?" Sasuke snapped and grabbed his keys from the valet. He tipped him and sped off towards Uchiha Corp. He parked his Ferrari off, deactivated the alarm and walked to the building. Once he reached the top floor where his office was he flopped onto the couch and turned on the huge plasma screen TV.

"Your top story in Konoha tonight- Is our hooded hero helping the criminals or is he slipping up?" the new reported read. "Police officers claimed that The Avenger let the ever-famous Fatale Seductress get away when he could clearly catch her. Could our hero have met his match? If so who will protect our city from thieves and criminals?"

"Even my comfort is against me," Sasuke sighed and turned the TV off. He stood up and walked to the large glass window. The lights below him lit up the city and made it look beautiful. "Come on Sasuke, time to get back your dignity. One female can only outrun you once. I hope."

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Sakura unwillingly opened the door of her suite and walked in.

What the hell were you thinking? You almost got caught and then there's the fact that you didn't even get the main thing you went for. Are you mad? If you were flirting with that hero you are in serious trouble," Tsunade yelled as soon as the door was opened.

"Chill out Tsunade," Sakura sighed and flopped onto the large couch.

"ARE YOU MAD?"

"No," Sakura closed her eyes and kicked her shoes off. "I'll finish the job tonight. So what if I flirted with the enemy? It's not like I'm gonna get involved with him and you need to seriously get laid. Your temper needs to cool down."

"I told you that ssshe would ssssay that Tssssunade," a slithery voice commented.

"I didn't know that you were here Orochimaru," Sakura said sitting up. "I thought that you hated Konoha."

"Well I do," Orochimaru replied. "But there's plenty of business here and who else is going to handle your stolen goods? Tsunade would use the money to buy sake and Jiraiya will use it to pay for his personal amusement."

"Too true," Sakura said. She got up and opened the fridge. "By the way, thanks for getting me this place."

"I know how much you prefer sssuites with a kitchen, lounge, giant bed and gigantic closetsss," Orochimaru hissed.

"You need to cut down on the hisses uncle or people are gonna get freaked out," Sakura handed him and Tsunade a bottle of water each and she sat down with a bottle of Coke.

"You really shouldn't be drinking things with cola and caffeine. It's bad for you," Tsunade commented, back to her placid state.

"I like it and I don't really care," Sakura unzipped her dress and let it fall to the floor before walking to her room and starting the shower. "Could you let Ino and Hinata in, they went to change before coming here."

"Sssure," Orochimaru replied and answered the door before the duo could knock.

"Creepy," Ino commented and walked in. "I don't know how she does that."

"She's extremely observant and can time most things to the second before they happen," Tsunade answered her.

"If she couldn't do that, she would have been caught a long time ago," Orochimaru said, his hissing under control again.

"Even after knowing the family for years, you guys still creep me out," Ino sighed. Hinata silently sat down on one of the couches.

"Here are the details of the meeting," Hinata passed Tsunade and Orochimaru a flash disk each. "The details of the Hyuga meeting are there as well."

"Thank you Hinata," Orochimaru smiled a non-sinister smile.

"Are you guys all done?" Sakura asked emerging with a towel wrapped around her. "Hinata I need you to get me the video from last night's break in and Ino I need the latest security set up if I want to finish the job. Orochimaru, I need a list of what else I need to get and their location. Tsunade, could you call Jiraiya and set up a meeting for all of us for later tomorrow. Preferably after lunch because I've got plans with Sasuke Uchiha."

"Don't get involved with him," Tsunade warned. "Last time you got involved with en enemy and a business partner he ended up six feet under."

"I'll be a good little girl for now," Sakura smiled. "I have other interests currently and besides he's not my type."

"Yeah, he might actually have his head screwed on the right way compared to the rest of the guys you've dated," Ino muttered under her breath.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura slid into the museum with ease and smirked at herself for going in through the right part of the museum. She knocked the guards unconscious and slid past the sensors.

"Fancy meeting you here," Sakura smiled at the hero in front of her.

"You know, most criminals don't risk going back to the crime scene for the sake of people waiting to catch them," he smirked.

"Guess I didn't read the criminal guide book," Sakura smiled and walked towards him. She flipped over him and landed on the other side of the cabinet. She effortlessly removed the top of the cabinet and looked up at the Avenger. "What? Not gonna try to stop me?"

"Depends on whether or not you touch anything else," Sasuke whispered in her ear. He had managed to get behind her in a blink of an eye. Sakura leaned back into him and licked his jaw line.

"You really shouldn't distract me when it comes to me doing my job. You might just find yourself ending up like the last hero that tried to stop me."

"And whatever happened to him?" Sasuke nibbled on her neck.

"Let's just say he ended up six feet under," Sakura licked her lips and took a deep breath in.

"Well let's see if I can push my luck now shall we?" Sasuke slid his hands up her jacket and was pleased to find that all she had on under was a bra. He slid his hands under her bra and began to massage her breasts.

"You're really pushing your luck," Sakura purred and moaned when he pinched her nipples.

"Did the other guy get this far?" Sasuke asked, leaving a hickey on her neck.

"He got much, much further. He managed to leave a mark on every inch of skin he could reach," Sakura threw her head back at the different sensations she was feeling. "But in the end having him knowing who I really was, was getting in too deep into the ocean. He made the mistake of trying to change who I was and he now suffers the consequences of falling in love with a criminal."

"I doubt that'll happen."

"Why's that?"

"I'm not the type to fall in love."

"Guess we have something in common," Sakura slipped something into her pants pocket. She brought her hand up and covered Sasuke's through her hoody. "As much as I'd love to find out if you last longer, the police won't be as understanding."

"Too bad," Sasuke smirked against her skin. He squeezed her breasts and nipples at the same time and bit her neck lightly. "I already had every little detail planned out about what I was going to do to your body tonight."

"Perv," Sakura muttered and felt him smirk into her neck. "As much as I would like to find out just what that entails, I'll have to pass."

"Sure about that?" Sasuke licked the spot on her neck that he had been paying attention to and ran a hand down her stomach to the waist line of her pants. Sakura pulled his hands out from under her jacket and entwined her gloved fingers with his ungloved hands.

"For now, yes," Sakura let go and was across the room before he could grab a hold of her. Sakura smirked and then flipped herself onto the ledge below the window she came through. "If you plan on catching me, you may want to get a move on."

Sasuke looked at the display cabinet and found it empty. "Shit." He ran after her and tripped a couple of sensors to alert the police. Once again he found himself chasing Fatale Seductress through the city. He gained on her and for a while they crossed over the other to land on the next building. Sasuke sped up a little and got ahead of her. She stopped a few feet away from him and smirked.

"You're faster than the other heroes that I've encountered," Sakura smirked.

"You're faster than all of the other thieves I've met," Sasuke returned the smirk. Sakura put her hand behind her back and pulled a small knife out from under her jacket.

"This **will** hurt," Sakura stated and threw the knife towards Sasuke. He dodged it but was hit by the second knife that she had pulled out while she threw the first one. "Make a note that I don't fight fair."

"Fuck it," Sasuke cursed when Sakura jumped of the side of the building. He looked down at the knife in his leg and swore again. The knife handle was an inch away from his crotch. "At least she missed junior."

So there was chapter 3. Please review, it'll make me happy ;b Peace out my readers


	4. Carnivale Time

Helloz... Man it's been a while since I worked on this story. I had bits and pieces written and mixed with my study notes for finals. Thankfully I passed and it's holidays. Okays so I'm not gonna waste time on long troublesome stories so onward...

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto...yet...someday in the very very very distant future though I will and I don't own Welcome to the World by Kevin Rudolph

Dedicated: This chapter is dedicated to -DramaQueen your review was the one that stood out the most to me and I totally agree with you. Hope you enjoy.

Special Dedication: This chapter is also dedicated to one of my teachers that passed away on Saturday. Mr Anton Breedt my your soul rest in peace. You will be missed but never forgotten.

* * *

_Previously:_

"_You're faster than the other heroes that I've encountered," Sakura smirked._

"_You're faster than all of the other thieves I've met," Sasuke returned the smirk. Sakura put her hand behind her back and pulled a small knife out from under her jacket._

"_This **will** hurt," Sakura stated and threw the knife towards Sasuke. He dodged it but was hit by the second knife that she had pulled out while she threw the first one. "Make a note that I don't fight fair."_

"_Fuck it," Sasuke cursed when Sakura jumped of the side of the building. He looked down at the knife in his leg and swore again. The knife handle was an inch away from his crotch. "At least she missed junior."_

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Carnival Time**

"Dude, were you trying to become an it?" Naruto asked. Sasuke had just gotten back from his escapades. He jumped out of the way when the knife that had been in Sasuke's leg earlier came flying at his head.

"Shut up," Sasuke said in a monotone. He pulled off his trench, shoes and pants. He flung his pants into the laundry basket and looked at the wound on his right leg. His scowled and opened the first aid kit in front of him. He pulled out the disinfectant and bandages and began to clean the wound and pull the material of his boxers out from the wound.

"You're back," Itachi stated when he walked into the room. They were in a room three floors below the Uchiha Manor. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Chick flung a fucking knife at me," Sasuke grumbled and hissed when the disinfectant burnt.

"Dude," Naruto was in shock.

"You can dodge that kinda stuff," Itachi yawned and sat down on the table.

"She threw one, which I dodged, and while she did that she pulled out another and threw it."

"You were distracted by one while she was aiming for the second one to hit. That's a good strategy," Itachi approved.

"Whose side are you on?" Sasuke grumbled when he lifted part of his boxers up so that he could wrap the bandages on properly.

"Shouldn't you sew that up?" Naruto asked.

"Put a couple of stitches in," Itachi agreed.

"It's two in the morning. I have a lunch appointment at ten. I need sleep. Fuck off and don't come near me. I'll stitch it up in the morning," Sasuke said and stormed up the stairs, trying not to hiss while he went up the stairs.

* * *

Sakura pulled the covers further over her head when Ino flung open the curtains and held onto them.

"Wake up. Sasuke's waiting for you," Ino said.

"He's early," Sakura mumbled.

"It's 10:15. Get up," Ino said again. Sakura groaned and sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "I'll tell him to come and talk to you here. Act decent while you're associating with him. I really don't need Tsunade on my ass about you walking around, being yourself with your new business partner."

"Hmmm…All I would do is sleep with him or flash the guy. Nothing major," Sakura fell back into her pillow. She heard Ino chuckle and walk out of the room before Sasuke entered.

"Am I waking you?" Sasuke asked. He was shocked at the amount of concern in his own voice.

"Noo…" Sakura yawned. She gave Sasuke a quick look over, liking the way his black shirt hugged all of his muscles, the way his jeans sat, the way his black leather jacket looked and sunglasses gave him a mysterious and dark look. Sakura yawned again before saying, "I'm just having a slow start. Gimme a couple minutes to get ready."

"I'll wait outside," Sasuke turned to leave.

"Nah, sit on a couch and talk to me," Sakura said and dragged her body out of bed. "There aren't enough hours in the night for sleep."

"I couldn't agree more," Sasuke sat down on one of the couches in the enormous room. Sakura walked into the adjoining bathroom and turned on the shower. As she walked behind the screen, Sasuke could make out the outline of her body stripping down.

"Sorry about making you wait. I don't normally ignore my alarm but last night's meeting with my aunt went longer than I expected."

"I know the feeling," Sasuke looked around the room. There was a king-sized bed in the centre of the room, a walk-in closet next to the bathroom on the left side of the room. There were two beanbags to the side of a life-size mirror and a couch against the wall. Sasuke sat on the couch that was opposite the bed. He had a good view of the city and could see over most of the buildings. He glanced back at the shower and heard the water turn off. He heard the taps running and Sakura brushing her teeth.

"So where are we going?" Sakura popped her head around the wall and looked at him. Sasuke noticed that all she had on was a towel, her body was still wet and her damp long hair was sticking to her face and body.

"How about you choose? I'm not fussy," Sasuke turned his attention back to the surveying the room. There was a painting of a tiger on the wall directly above the bed.

"You pick. I haven't been to Konoha in years so I'm not familiar with the places here," Sakura walked out of the bathroom and into the closet. Sasuke could see everything that she did because the closet didn't have doors.

"What kind of place would you prefer?"

"Some place that won't draw attention. I really don't want reporters minding my business yet."

"There's a carnival in town. How about there? Naruto suggested it," Sasuke asked. He wasn't one to openly admit that he liked carnivals but Naruto had suggested it this morning before he left. "Besides, reporters hardly ever wander there."

"Sounds fun," Sakura sounded like a child that was let loose in a candy shop and told to eat as much as they wanted. "I haven't been to a carnival in a while."

"Neither have I," Sasuke sighed. Who could go when they had to run a company and clean up the criminals in Konoha?

"Do you think this top is too eye-catching?" Sakura came out of the closet in a bra, jeans and boots. She held out a red top with sequins on it. "I really don't want to get people's attention."

"Less sequins," Sasuke replied. "And you might want to change into flat shoes. The carnival is known for females breaking their heels because of the terrain."

"Trust me, I can handle it," Sakura winked and disappeared between a clothes rack. She re-emerged with a black tank top and white armings on. "I think I've kept you waiting long enough."

"No problem," Sasuke stood and followed Sakura out of the room.

"Be back before twelve. Kiba wants to speak to you," Ino said. She was on the opposite side of the kitchen counter, stirring what looked like a milkshake. Sakura grabbed a leather jacket that was on a bar stool.

"Bail me out. Kiba owes me for last night. If he has a problem with it then he should consider giving up the girls or giving up his sister," Sakura said.

"I don't think the carnival will take less than the rest of the day," Sasuke stated.

"I'm bailing you out of everything aren't I?" Ino asked.

"Please and thank you. You and Hinata can take the day to relax," Sakura grabbed her cell from Ino and walked to the front door. She stopped before she could open it and threw a small black bag to Ino. "Give that to my uncle would you? He'll probably die if he doesn't get it soon."

"Yeah, yeah, just bring me back something carnie," Ino replied as the door closed. The ride to the hotel parking on the elevator was quiet. Sakura followed Sasuke to his car and perked her eyebrow.

"That might be a little eye-catching," Sasuke smirked.

"It's the least eye-catching one I own," in front of them was a black Ferrari Enzo.

"You might not want to let my brother near it or you might find yourself one car less. He's been dying to get his hands on one of these."

"Who wouldn't?" Sasuke unlocked the car and opened the door for Sakura.

"Thank you," Sakura slid onto the leather seat. Sasuke closed the door and got in on the other side. "Kiba loves Ferraris but I can never understand why he's too stubborn to buy one. Guess I'll get him one for his birthday or something."

"So what car do you prefer?" Sasuke found their conversation a little odd since most females talked about the nails or whatever and he hadn't had a proper conversation that included more then one syllable words with a female in a long time.

"I prefer Lamborghinis," she chuckled. "But then again I like anything with speed. It's my…obsession in a sense."

"Then you'll love the speed this car gets," Sasuke smirked and sped up.

* * *

"Mmmm…" Sakura moaned in delight. Sasuke watched her face light up and let a small smile slip through his usually emotionless façade. "You've gotta have some."

"I'll pass," he tried moving out of her reach but to his dismay, had the sweet fluff stuck to his lips and had no choice but to lick it off.

"See it's not that bad," Sakura licked the wisps of cotton candy off her fingers and giggled at Sasuke's expression.

"I'm not a fan of sugar."

"It won't kill you. I promise," she smiled and pulled another piece off. As the sugary treat dissolved, Sakura frowned. "Could you hold this for a second?" She handed the cotton candy to him and spun around. Before Sasuke could ask what was wrong, Sakura had a guy pressed against the nearest stall wall with his arm twisted behind his back and the other in a vice-like grip.

"Jeez is that the way you greet your brother?"

"I would kill you if there weren't any witnesses," Sakura hissed.

"What'd I do now?" Sakura let go of him and frowned.

"Don't play innocent. You know that you were supposed to be at dinner last night."

"What dinner?" he received a glare from Sakura. "Oh you mean _that_ dinner."

"I saw you sneaking out Kiba."

"Well you see there was this thing at this place…"

"Urgh!" Sakura rolled her eyes. "Well since you weren't there, Kiba this is Sasuke, Sasuke this is my idiot brother Kiba."

"I finally meet an Uchiha," Kiba smiled, his canines standing out against his tanned skin. Sasuke thought that his eyes gave him a predatory look and his canines added to the effect.

"You didn't?" Sakura groaned before dropping into the splits to avoid being hit by a flying red blur.

"Ra-Ra," the blur was now attached to Kiba's arm.

"Don't call me that," Sakura snapped while getting up. "And don't, for the sake of things, ever talk or come near me again."

"You don't mean that," the person turned around, revealing a female dressed in a red trench coat, spaghetti strap top, mini skirt and knee high boots. As soon as she caught sight of Sasuke, she left Kiba and began walking around him, inspecting him. "Handsome, tall, onyx eyes, raven hair, sexy body. Kiba you need to get some more muscles."

"Che," Kiba crossed his arms and pouted.

"Where's my baby?" Sakura asked, ignoring the other female's presence.

"At the V.E.T," Kiba shuddered.

"No wonder you're with _her_," Sakura didn't bother to hide her clear dislike for the female. "Now Kiba if you could kindly take your stupid viper and get lost."

"Ouch Sakura, that hurt," Kiba clutched his chest and feigned a look of hurt.

"Grow up and go away," Sakura glared at him. "You know my patience around her is thin and I won't hesitate to dispose of her."

"Ra-Ra," the female played ignorant to the sibling's quarrelling, "you haven't introduced me to you're new boyfriend."

"Sasuke, bitch. Bitch, Sasuke," Sakura hissed through gritted teeth.

"Don't be such a bitch Sakura," Kiba snapped.

"Well I'm sorry if I don't like her because she's a fucking gold digger. Fuck Kiba, the entire family agrees with me. They all prefer your multitudes of one night stands over _her_!"

"Well the entire family disapproved of _him_ and you remember what happened," Sakura froze. She moved her hand behind her and reached under her jacket.

"Don't _ever_ mention _him_," Kiba flinched when he saw a glint of silver.

"Whatever. Let's go Camille," Kiba pulled said woman and walked off. Sasuke glanced at Sakura and saw her breathing heavily, trying to calm herself down.

"Sorry about that," Sakura spoke after a few minutes. "As much as my brother and I love each other, both of us are strongly opinionated and we can never seem to agree when it comes to the other's dating preferences."

"No problem," Sasuke saw a glint of silver as Sakura fixed her jacket.

"Let's hit the rides," Sakura smiled and took her cotton candy. "You can learn a lot from what they do."

* * *

"_SSSSSSSakura, you have a new assssignment."_

"I don't particularly want one tonight"

"_You skipped lunch."_

"_YOU BETTER BE BEHAVING YOURSELF! I WILL NOT TOLERATE YOU SLEEPING WITH HIM!"_

"Relax Tsunade or you'll get grey hair and really look your age. Jiraiya, I promise I'll make it up to you. Orochimaru, can't it wait?" Sakura was standing in the bathroom since it was the only area in the bar they were in that wasn't booming with music.

"_Not thissss one SSSSakura."_

"Why? What's so special about this one?"

"_It will only be here tonight."_

"Fine, I'll speak to you when I get back," she ended the call and slipped her phone into her pocket. She looked into the mirror in front of her, inspecting the way she looked. "Need more lip gloss," as she was applying it, the door opened and a rather oversized middle-aged male walked in.

"Hey babycakes, I saw you with that kid and I must say that I have much more experience then him. Let a real man show you how things are done"

"Thanks for the offer," the male began advancing towards her, "but that _kid_ out there is more of a man then you'll ever be. Besides, I'm willing to bet that he has far more experience then would get in fifty lifetimes." She moved to walk past him but he grabbed her arm and pushed her against one of the stall doors.

"You sure about that," he began pushing into her.

"Hmmm…I might reconsider," Sakura smirked when she felt his grip loosen. She pulled him by the shirt collar into the stall and pulled him down to her level. As he was about to kiss her, she ducked and he went flying head first into the toilet. "Guess the last person forgot to flush."

* * *

Sasuke sat at the bar, music blaring and mulled everything over. He had learnt the Sakura was pretty much an adrenaline junkie, loved being high above ground and basically lived off cola soft drinks.

"_Wow, Konoha is beautiful," Sakura leaned against the rail of the cable car and looked out at the city. "It must be breathtaking at night from up here."_

"_We could always come back later and find out," Sasuke was watching her expression and let out a __small smiled at her innocent looks. He heard her sigh and watched her close her eyes, her silhouette illuminated by the sun._

Sasuke had the image imprinted into his mind and every time he closed his eyes, would see her.

"Sorry I took so long," Sakura slid into the seat next to him. "My uncles and aunt decided to lecture me over the phone."

"Hn," Sakura giggled at his lack of words and smiled.

"Can I help you?" the bartender asked Sakura with a smile. Sasuke tried to remain calm but the way the bartender was staring at Sakura was giving him the urge to punch him.

"Give me your strongest stuff," Sakura smiled.

"Are you sure you wanna do that?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "It's pretty potent."

"Why not? The worst it can do is give me a headache."

"You sure? Fine, make it two," Sasuke told the bartender and leaned his arms against the bar top.

"You're extremely quiet."

"I normally am."

"Don't be."

"Old habits die hard."

"I know the saying all too well," their drinks arrived and Sakura traced the edge of the shot glass. "Since we're gonna be business partners, it would best that I personally tell you that my relationship choices are usually gold for the media."

"You don't have to explain. After all, both of us are familiar with those choices."

"Still," Sakura picked up her shot glass and looked at the clear liquid for a second before downing it and licking her lips. "For the record most of the pictures on the internet are leaked on. None of the really bad stuff is on with my permission. My aunt has a fit when she sees them and as odd as it might be, I find them rather amusing since I usually remember none of them ever being taken."

"You find it amusing?"

"Kinda," Sakura placed the shot glass on the counter. "Most of them do it for publicity. I mean the media pays a fortune for the photos."

"I know the feeling."

"Although what I find most amusing is the amount of photos that are photo shopped. I mean I'm pale compared to the bodies they give me."

"You know most girls wouldn't even mention something like this."

"If there's one thing about me that you should know, it's that I don't do things that most people would expect," Sakura smiled. "People expect me to be this image of innocence, yet I shatter that on a daily basis."

"You are truly unique," Sasuke smirked.

"Why thank you," Sakura laughed. "Honestly though, the reason I'm telling you this is because I'd prefer if people heard the truth and knew that I didn't consent to the pictures people put up of me, though I don't pay much attention to them, instead of thinking me a slut who posed for attention. The only times that I actually do is for charity."

"How long have you been helping out with charity?"

"Helping charity is something I've done since eighth grade. My uncle, Orochimaru and I used to go once a month to a different place and help out. It's something we've always done out of the media's eyes because it's something that we preferred doing without people thinking it was for publicity."

"Do you still do it?" Sasuke had never met someone like Sakura before.

"I don't have time to visit the places anymore but my uncle still picks a place and we donate to it. Just him and I."

"You said your uncle's name is Orochimaru?"

"Yes, Uncle used to be the mayor of Oto but after my parents died, he took over Haruno Tech until I was old enough to run things."

"My father once told me about his business strategies."

"Uncle's always been an excellent strategist. I've never come across one of his plans that have failed. He was the one to teach me everything I know about business," Sakura smiled lightly. Suddenly, over the blaring music, Sasuke's pocket began ringing.

_Welcome to the world_

_Welcome to the world_

_You got you're pop star_

_I'll be your rock star_

_When this is suicide_

_You call it superstar_

"What do you want dobe?" Sasuke asked. "It can wait. What do you mean it crashed? I swear I'll kill you if you broke it," he heard Sakura giggle. "Don't touch anything got it dobe? I'll be there in a while." Sasuke hung up and sighed.

"Guess they can't live without you at work."

"Sadly Naruto, the dobe, somehow managed to break something that I thought up until today was Naruto-proof," Sakura giggled.

"Come on, we'd better go before something worse happens."

* * *

-_**SLAM**_-

"URGH!" Sakura slammed the door behind her and stormed to the mini fridge. She pulled out a bottle of Coke and slammed the fridge shut.

"What'sssss wrong with you SSSSakura?" Orochimaru asked from his seat on one of the couches. There was a knock on the door and Sakura glared at it.

"AAAHHH!" Sakura gripped the glass bottle so hard that her knuckles were going white and tiny cracks were beginning to form.

"Calm down," Orochimaru opened the door and Tsunade came storming in.

"EVERYTHING WAS GOING PERFECT UNTIL YOU SHOWED UP!"

"ME!?! YOU INSOLENT BRAT! YOU WERE GOING TO KISS HIM!"

"Oh boo-freakin-hoo," Sakura stuck her tongue out. "Is it my fault that he might be the only guy with his head on right and I happened to be attracted to him?"

"Yes actually it is because the only attraction you feel towards the opposite gender is lust."

"Coming from someone who hasn't had sex in what? Twenty years?"

"Che, as if. If you ruin this partnership because of your over-active hormones then I will not be the one to clean this up. I was against it from the beginning and now that I think it might work, you want to go and sleep with your future business partner."

"FUCK YOU TSUNADE," Sakura's grip on the coke finally caused the bottle to shatter but she paid no attention to the glass digging into her skin. Instead, her grip tightened, causing the glass to get lodged further. "I have more the enough self-control to hold back. Stop treating me like a child because no matter what I won't sleep with him. If you have so little faith then stuff you but I **do** **not** sleep with business partners."

"Oh really? Then why is it that you slept with Neji?"

"That was long before I started negotiating with him for Hinata."

"Hey everyone! I've got this great idea for my new Icha Icha book," Jiraiya came through the door and was greeted by the two females yelling at each other. "Again?"

"It never endssssss," Orochimaru took his place on the couch and Jiraiya followed suit.

"So what's it about this time?"

"SSSSakura almost kissssed the Uchiha but Tsssunade sssstopped it. Now SSSSakura is mad because Tsssunade thinks that all she feels for the Uchiha is lusssst."

"She hardly knows him."

"True but SSSSakura is alsssso angry because Tsssunade hasss ssssuch little faith in her."

"Women."

"Assss ssseldom assss thisss happenssss, I agree brother."

"Stuff you. I can do what ever the hell I want. I'm not a child," Sakura's hand was dripping with blood but she still took no notice.

"SSSSakura, Tsssunade, both of you need to calm down. SSSSakura you need to try not to have another encounter like that again. Tsssunade, you need to trussssst SSSSakura to make her own decisssionssss and trust that sssshe hassss enough will to keep her relationsssship with SSSSasuke sssstrictly professssional."

"Whose side are you on?" Tsunade snapped.

"SSSSakura'ssss," Orochimaru smiled. Tsunade huffed in annoyance. Orochimaru always took Sakura's side in an argument.

"Thank you Orochimaru."

"Sakura, your hand is bleeding," Jiraiya pointed out.

"Oh hi Jiraiya," Sakura stood for a moment until she realised what he said. She looked down at her hand for a second. "Oh shit."

* * *

"How the fuck did you manage to break it?" Sasuke glared at the blond.

"How the hell should I know?" Naruto was sitting on top of a desk, a floor below Sasuke, while Sasuke fixed the computer info mainframe. The mainframe took up the top three stories of Uchiha Corp and was made of glass that was shaped into a cylinder. On the inner glass there were displays showing the thousands of codes being continuously changed, documents being processed and work being uploaded while the outer glass was hit by several air-conditioning systems to keep it cool. There was also the three stories of windowless walls that protected the mainframe from any damage. On the inside was another cylinder that kept all of the major information and held the control system.

"I made it Naruto-proof yet you still managed to break it," Sasuke was standing on the lift right at the top of the main info mainframe. He had the control panel open and was replacing the supposedly unbreakable circuit that Naruto managed to break. "What the hell were you doing anyway?"

"All I did was log on to my user account."

"You had to have done something more. It wouldn't break for nothing especially since I made sure you couldn't break it."

"Okay, okay I get that you made sure it was me-proof," Naruto mumbled a few curses at the Uchiha under his breath before once again looking up at the clear glass. "So what, other then this, has your panties in a knot, eh teme? I doubt this would get you so pissed off even though you're naturally a manic depressive."

"Fuck you dobe," Sasuke dropped one of wrenches that he no longer needed through the opening at the bottom and smirked in sick satisfaction.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR TEME!?!" Naruto shook his fist at the smirking Uchiha before rubbing the bump that was already forming on his head.

"You deserved it," Sasuke closed the panel and began to enter all of the necessary activation codes.

"Jerk," Naruto crossed his arms and pouted before remembering his previous question. "So teme why are you more pissy then usual?"

"Hn."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Che, like I'll tell you."

"If you don't, then I'll leak to the media that you're gay."

"Like they'd believe that dobe."

"Hey nothing a little photo shopping can't prove."

"You don't even know how to upload pictures from your phone to the computer; you think you can photo shop something?"

"So what if I can't? Deidara can."

"Naruto," Sasuke said in a warning tone.

"Teme."

"Don't make me show them the reams of film of you and blanky."

"W-what!?! You-you wouldn't," Naruto panicked. "Leave blanky out of this! He's just an innocent blanket. Don't rub his name in the dirt."

"Dobe," Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto's antics. "Who the hell still sleeps with his baby blanket at age 22?"

"Fuck you."

"I bet you're still a virgin. If not then you lost it to the blanket."

"Hey! I resent that," Naruto pouted. "I'm **not** a virgin!"

"Baka," Sasuke flipped the switch on the lift and began descending to the floor Naruto was on. "If you really must know, I'm irritated more then usual because I was so damn close to kissing Sakura."

"As in Haruno?"

"The one and only," Sasuke sighed. "Then her aunt showed up. So damn close."

"That's it?" Naruto blinked once. Twice. "AHAHAHAHAHAHA! Holy shit that's hilarious! I mean teme's acting like a love sick teenager."

"Shuddup," Sasuke slid the glass panel into place and hit the airlock.

"No seriously. I mean it's like that time in sophomore year when you spent weeks trying to get that shy chick, Hana someone, to sleep with you only for Itachi to walk in on the two of you. Man I never saw a chick run so fast or blush so hard."

"Stupid Aniki," Sasuke still held a grudge against Itachi for that.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Naruto began to laugh again. "You never did manage to get her in bed did you?"

"You wish," Sasuke smirked. It had taken much coaxing afterward but as always, what an Uchiha wants, an Uchiha gets.

"Sasuke," a voice made the two turn to their left.

"What?"

"Is that any way to speak to your older brother? Never mind," Itachi smirked before walking into the room. "What are you doing up here? The updates are only to be installed next week."

"Naruto."

"Oh."

"Hehe," Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Sheesh am I that predictable? If you're going to say yes then don't answer."

"…"

"…"

"Oh come on."

"Hn."

"Aa."

"Jerks."

"Moving on, Sasuke there's an extremely valuable painting being kept at the Aoa Museum. It's only in Konoha for tonight. The display is on from eight till eleven," Itachi informed them. "The painting is being placed under safe keeping for two hours in the museum vault."

"In other words, keep the painting in the vault."

"Teme can handle that…unless he decides to become an it," Naruto snickered only to receive a punch from the younger Uchiha.

"I will not fall for the same trick twice," Sasuke scoffed. "Besides, I'd like to see someone pull something like that when my sharingan is activated."

"Sasuke," Itachi warned. "You know you shouldn't use it unnecessarily."

"Che, teme needs all the help he can get," Naruto dodged the spanner aimed for his head. "I mean really, he's getting his ass handed to him by a girl."

"Fuck you dobe. I don't see you doing anything helpful."

"Stuff you."

"Sometimes I wonder if you two are an old married couple. Sadly I know better," Itachi sighed.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Ino asked. Sakura was buried knee deep in various clothes. "No seriously? It's almost midnight and you're raiding your wardrobe."

"Che, as if pig," she was already dressed for her assignment.

"Then?"

"I can't find it."

"What?"

"My glasses."

"Eh?"

"You heard me."

"Why?"

"I happen to like them," Sakura jumped into the pile of clothes next to her and began to rummage through them. "Besides, their the only pair I have left that is connected to Vicky."

"What did you do to the other ones?"

"I dunno. I must have lost them or something," Sakura flung a red skirt into the air before screaming in frustration.

"Um…S-Sakura?" Hinata walked into the pinkette's room.

"Hmmm…"

"V-Vicky's not-t v-very h-happy."

"It's not my fault the computers aren't online yet. She's just gonna have to deal with the computer until I install the computers and modify them."

"I refuse to be degraded like this Miss Sakura," a cool female voice spoke.

"Don't blame me. Orochimaru was the one that set up this place and the extension closet isn't finished yet. I'll come back and work on it when I'm done okay Vicky?"

"I feel like some cheap old desktop," Vicky replied, "I'm the world's smartest, fastest AI and I'm reduced to having part of my program in a laptop. This is insulting Miss Sakura."

"I promise I'll work as fast as I can to get you more comfy but for mow could you please tell me where my glasses are?"

"Two degrees left and two feet below your left hand."

"Thank you Vicky," Sakura pulled out the light frame and slipped the glasses on. She flipped her hood over her head and made her way to the window. "Don't wait up for me; I got date with a hero."

* * *

Sasuke hid in the shadows of the museum waiting for the ever elusive femme fatale to arrive at the vault. He checked the clock over the wall to his right. Just as the second hand hit twelve on the dot, aligning the three hands, a door opened near the vault.

"If you're waiting for little old me, then here I am," Sasuke stood frozen for a second. When had she gotten behind him? "The door was just for the fun of it. I mean seriously, what would it help be if I walked straight through the front door."

"You would help me out," Sasuke grumbled. He felt her hands on his shoulders and her head in the crook between his neck and shoulder.

"As fun as that sounds, I like being difficult," Sakura ran her hands over his muscled arms. "I wonder what you do when you're not playing hero. An athlete? Body-builder? Or are you the office type? Maybe a journalist like Clark Kent…"

"How bout none of the above?" Sasuke felt her squeeze his biceps before tracing the curves of his muscles.

"I wonder…" Sakura ran her arms around his waist and played with the hem of his shirt of his shirt for a second before slipping her gloved hands over his warm skin. "The six-pack kinda guy. Yummy." She pulled one of her gloves off and ran her cool hand over his ripping muscles. "You know if I ever met you outside of the crime industry, I would jump you in a heartbeat."

"You don't even know what I look like."

"Oh but I don't care. Just from your physique and mothersexy voice I'm hooked," Sakura heard him chuckle.

"Assume I was dog ugly."

"I'd wear a blindfold."

"Tempting," Sasuke pulled at her wrist, causing her to move in front of him, faces mere inches away. "But what if I don't like you."

"Baby I doubt that," Sakura smirked. "Guys come to me begging."

"Like wise with me and girls."

"Then I wouldn't mind," Sakura raised her head up, bringing her lips a hairs breath away from him. She looked at his through her glasses and suddenly wished that she could see his face. "Who are you?"

"Same to you," and with that, Sasuke close the remaining space and joined their lips.

* * *

An: Gomen ne, I couldn't resist leaving it there. I won't keep you waiting as long for the next chapter. I'll try to get it up before the new year because I'll be on vacation, isolated without a computer and only internet on my cellphone -cries- Just to clear up that Vicky is an AI program and the info mainframe in Uchiha Corp is based of the computer system in I Robot. Now that that's done, please leave a review. They keep me motivated and I really like hearing your thoughts and feedback.

Ja ne

~Simone


	5. The Harunos

Hehe...Hiya... Been a while ne? -ehem- So I know this is long overdue but I can explain...Okay so my teachers drop tenth grade work on us -pile ruthlessly- and then all of the tests and then exams, things were a little hectic.

But prevailing, there is a six week holiday thanks to the Soccer World Cup. All I can say to that is KICK ASS PORTUGAL. And no I'm not supporting South Africa even though my father -disappointed in me- says that I should support my home country. I say to him- Pshaw right. They don't have Cristiano Ronaldo and the talent to be fabulous haha...

Forgive my moment... moving on. Here's the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy.

Disclaimer: Che...I just own my imagination...T.T

-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-

**Chapter 5**

**The Harunos**

The blaring noise of sirens filled the quiet room. The two occupants instantly moved to opposite sides of the room. Sakura internally cursed herself for getting distracted and ran for the door. Sasuke was in front of her in an instant and once more she let a few curses slip past her lips. The only way out was through that door and the obstruction in front of showed no signs of moving. Sakura took a step back before glancing at the vault and the walls on either side of her.

"Vicky, analyse all possible exits."

"_Analysing now,"_ Vicky's voice came over the speaker in her ear.

"There's no way out other that through the door," Sasuke closed the door behind him and pulled out a gun.

"Isn't there some kind of hero rule to at least give me a fighting chance?"

"Hilarious," Sasuke pointed at her.

"_New route found,"_ Vicky projected the images onto the digital screen of Sakura's glasses.

"That's far too bad," Sakura spun around and in the process landed a firm kick to the wall, shattering the bricks. "See you around hero," she ran through the hole in the wall and began to drop down the forty odd stories. Sasuke ran to the wall and looked out before mentally yelling and jumping after her.

As Sakura fell, she reached into her sleeves and pulled out two knives. She pulled out a line of string from her pocket and threaded it though the knives before flinging them in opposite directions. As soon as they made contact with two walls, she grabbed the ends of the string and pulled, trying to stop herself from falling.

Suddenly, her vision was flooded by light and the lens of her glasses only served as an amplifier.

"Fuck," Sakura lost her grip and began to fall again. She felt someone grab her hand and looked up to find Sasuke holding onto her. He was on a window ledge and looked like he was having a ball and a half trying to pull her up so she wouldn't fall.

"Grab my other hand," Sasuke offered his hand to her.

"Let go," Sakura said before slipping her hand out of his and using the ledge below him to propel herself off and dive towards the ground. As she neared the ground below her, she got grip on a light pole and used it to break her momentum and hold her there for a second. She then swung herself down to the ground and flipped over the police officers surrounding her.

"Stop," several officers began to chase after her and yelled for her to stop.

Sakura tried not to laugh before running into an alley and swinging herself onto the ladder hanging above her. She ran up the stairs and mentally screamed when she reached the top. "Seriously?"

"Hn," Sasuke stood in front of her now equipped with two guns and ready to fire.

"Oh come on," Sakura flicked her wrists out and two knives appeared in her hands. "Do we have to?"

"Hn."

"And after such a good kiss…" Sakura flicked the knife at Sasuke before a gunshot rang through the night. "_Fuck_."

"Shit."

Sakura heard the clacking of shoes coming up the stairs behind her before a white blur flew past her and onto Sasuke.

"Need a little help?" Kiba landed next to her. He was adorning a thick grey jacket with the fur covered hood up and black pants. He's cheeks were coloured with red markings. "Nice one boy."

"Arf," Sakura identified the large ball of fur as Akamaru and almost laughed when the massive dog licked Sasuke's face. He had a paw holding down each of Sasuke's limbs and both guns a distance away.

"Let's get out of here," Kiba suggested when he heard the sound of guns being cocked behind them.

"Agreed," Sakura licked her lips before clenching and unclenching her fist. She pulled out several knives and Kiba crouched down into a predatory stance. "With a bang?"

"As always."

Sakura took aim before throwing the knives and hitting seven of the officers in the shoulder, each one dropped their guns as soon as they felt the pain. Kiba and Akamaru had knocked the remaining ones down and sunk a paw into their shoulders before the three of them darted off. Sakura glanced behind her to see Sasuke stand up.

"Oi, Sakura," Kiba drew her attention to the way ahead of her. "You totally owe us for saving your ass."

"Arf arf," Akamaru managed to get under her as the jumped across a building and carried her.

"Nice to see you to cutie pie," Sakura placed a kiss on his head and received an 'arf' in approval.

"Fuck, you're bleeding," Kiba glanced at the red coating her jacket sleeve before hoping onto Akamaru's back. He tried to reach for her shoulder but was swatted away.

"I'll deal with it when we get back," Sakura leaned back into him. "For now just shut up big brother."

* * *

"," Naruto was rolling on the floor from laughing so hard. It took every ounce of his strength for Sasuke to refrain from skinning the blond alive.

"_Naruto_," he hissed. He clenched his teeth and bit back a cry of pain. "Burn. In. Fucking. Hell. Dobe."

"But-hehe-it's just-just so-so-so fucking funny," Naruto was clutching his stomach. "You got a knife- oh this is just too funny."

"_I. _**HATE**_. YOU_!"

"Now, now little brother," Itachi glanced up from where he was.

"Screw you," Sasuke glared at his brother before gritting his teeth in pain.

Itachi was currently pushing a needle through the skin of his inner thigh.

"Could this be like a total fluke or do you think she's toying with you? Not that isn't fun," Deidara asked. He was holding a metal bowl with hot water and another with bloody bandages, gauze and cotton balls.

"Fuck you Blondie," Sasuke hissed as Itachi sewed in the next stitch. The two wounds he had received in the past two days had been a half an inch apart and the second had been closer to junior then the previous

"Otoutou I don't think you'll be having any company for a while," Itachi resisted the urge to chuckle at his brother's misfortune.

"I hate you. You are aware of that right?"

"Been aware of it since you were born," Itachi tightened the last stitch before wrapping clean bandages around his stitches. "Try to be careful later. I don't need you bleeding out in the meeting today."

"Good to see you're concerned about my well-being," Sasuke cringed as he stood and pushed his boxers down. He thought about earlier and sighed.

"And that?"

"One good thing came out of all of this."

"And that would be?"

"I bet you teme almost screwed the chick."

"Che, as if," Sasuke glared at him. Naruto's words only served as a reminder of the kiss he and the femme fatale had shared earlier. "No. When she threw the knife at me, I shot her in the shoulder."

"So basically," Itachi smirked, "if she plans on doing anything, she would have to get that bullet removed."

"And in order to do that, she would need to either go to a hospital, be very brave and remove it herself or know someone that can remove it for her without it getting infected," Deidara finished.

"That also means that she won't be doing anything for a while. She wouldn't risk going out injured and it means it will affect her aim and knife throwing skills for a while. And in addition, it will affect everything she does."  
"Including her day to day work. It's almost genius. Heck it's brilliant. Never thought I would say that to Sasuke's reckless behaviour."

"Sasuke, for once I approve of your recklessness," Itachi ruffled his brother's hair. "Just don't get involved with this one. Last time was traumatic enough."

"Do you enjoy making me suffer?" Sasuke glared at his brother.

"All the time otoutou."

* * *

"HOLY MOTHER-" Sakura bit her tongue as her jacket was peeled away from her skin. She resisted the dire urge to scream and throw things but sadly it hurt now that the adrenaline had died down and she was running on pure will power.

"Dumbass," Tsunade shouted at her. "You should be more responsible."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Sakura rolled her eyes and let out a small scream as Tsunade stuck a pair of tweezers into her shoulder to pull out the bullet.

"Ino analyse the bullet."

"Sure thing," Ino held out a bag for Tsunade to drop the bullet in and sealed it before slipping it into her bag.

"Are you alright Sakura-san?" Shizune asked. Sakura gave Tsunade's assistant a small smile before cringing as Tsunade began to clean the would again.

"Could you be a little less mean?" Sakura glared at the blonde.

"You were the irresponsible one now feel the pain you brought upon yourself."

"Hey Sakura, got any alcohol in this place?" Kiba stuck his head into the bathroom. "Ouchy. Glad that's not me."

"If you like I could put one in you," Sakura offered.

"No thanks."

"Alcohol's not stocked yet. _Someone_," Sakura sent a look at Tsunade, "said that it would be best that I didn't have a hotel room stocked with booze. So naturally all of it is in her room."

"Oh come on Aunty," Kiba looked at Tsunade with his puppy eyes. "I promise we won't get too drunk."

"You have a meeting in a few hours," Ino stated. "I will not have either of you drunk or hung-over."

"Hey Ino, where's Hinata? I heard she works here now. Why don't you let her speak to me that way I don't have to look at beach fun Barbie?"

"I missed you too doggy-boy."

"Glad to see that your love is still the same," Sakura stood and stripped out of her remaining clothes and hopped into the shower.

"And you still have no issues with nudity," Tsunade walked behind her and picked up her clothes.

"What's the point? It's not like it's any different from any other females' and there's the fact that there are like a million pictures of me on the net."

"I agree with Sakura," Kiba said nonchalant.

"Incest," Ino remarked.

"I grew up bathing with her. It has no effect whatsoever."

"Could you all just I dunno maybe get out?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Kiba turned and waved goodbye. "Akamaru say goodbye to mommy."

"Arf," Akamaru bounded into the bathroom, pushing everyone else out of the way before scratching at the shower door until Sakura opened it. He gave her cheek a lick and allowed her to kiss his nose. With a small sneeze, he shrunk down to puppy size.

"I'll miss you cutie pie," Sakura called after the puppy as he walked out of the bathroom and hopped into Kiba's arms.

"Arf."

"At least you didn't get knocked over with a tail that weighs more then you do," Ino commented before walking out. Sakura simply chuckled at the blonde and went back to her shower.

* * *

"Have I mentioned I hate suits?" Kiba asked.

"Every time you put one on," Sakura let out a small groan before lifting her head off the headrest in the limo. She spotted the mini fridge and found a half a bottle of vodka left.

"Don't you think it's a little early?" Kiba lifted a brow. "I mean I'm all for getting pissed before a meeting but don't you wanna chill out before something like today's meeting?"

"It's seven-thirty. I had four hours of sleep. My shoulder aches and I'm pretty sure that I won't be voluntarily doing anything illegal for a while. I wanna go back to bed and let this stupid thing heal but as usual Ino-pig would rather me die a slow painful death with business men then let me recover."

"Sounds like Barbie."

"Now do you still think that I should hold off on the vodka?"

"Go for it," Kiba closed his eyes and leaned against the seat, watching Sakura drain the contents straight from the bottle. "Be thankful that your tolerance to alcohol is so high."

"It doesn't help when you actually want to get drunk," Sakura let out another groan. "Lace any drinks I have today please."

"Anything to piss Barbie off."

"Why do you hate her again?"

"Wouldn't sleep with me."

"Hehe…" Sakura lay her head on his shoulder. "Eighteen years today."

"I know," Kiba wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "We could ditch early and hop on the jet to Oto."

"No," Sakura sighed. "As great as that sounds, I doubt they would approve of us dropping something that dad worked so hard on."

"Some times I hate you being right."

"Hmmm…"

* * *

"The reason for this meeting is simple," Sakura stood in front of the crowd of CEOs and reporters gathered.

"Haruno Tech and Uchiha Corp have come to an agreement," Sasuke spoke. He was standing next to her.

"We plan to join together to create one company."

"Not only does this affect on both of our business but it also leaves a result on all of your business."

"With the merger between our companies, it means that other businesses specialising in similar sectors will have an increase in competition. This also affects the businesses that we work with."

"We would like for you to see this not only as competition but also to use it as a way to better your own businesses," Sasuke spoke.

"If there are any objections we are more then willing to listen to them and to do our best to resolve the problems in the most effective manner."

"Both of you are still children," a voice came from the crowd.

"Mr Hyuga," Sakura smiled. She heard the clicks of the cameras but ignored them and found the owner of the voice. "Please do not let our ages deter you. I can assure you that both Sasuke and I are responsible enough to manage and handle matters and our companies in the best manner possible.

If my word remains insufficient then let me say that since I took control of Haruno Tech not only has productivity more then tripled over the past five years but the success of the Haruno business has doubled each year that I have been in command."

"Uchiha Corp has not only been far more successful since I took over but one in every four people prefer to deal with Uchiha Corp," Sasuke added.

"Each of us has increase out family's businesses capabilities beyond what could be expected and not only do both companies sit in the highest ranks for each of their specialities but both are preferred names that have become far more popular since Sasuke and I have respectively taken up our positions."

"You are both far too inexperienced in the business world to think that something of this magnitude will work so successfully."  
"Mr Sabaku," Sasuke turned his attention to the older male. "Speaking for myself I can say that from the time I learnt to walk, my father began to teach me the ways of the business world. On several occasions, I accompanied my father on business trips, learning what I could from the purpose of the trips. In addition to that, my brother, Itachi also had several years of training with my father. Between my brother and I we have been more then able to compensate for what the other lacks and I assure you that we have never failed to achieve the goals set out for us."

"And you Miss Haruno?" Mr Sabaku looked at the female.

"Personally, I never had my father to teach me anything about business. I spent my life relying on what my uncle, Orochimaru had to teach me. I spent every moment possible learning about Haruno Tech and even before I took control, my uncle gave me my fair share of business related matters to work through before deciding that I was ready to take my position as CEO."

"Miss Haruno, Mr Uchiha," a reporter asked. "Your personal lives are media gold. This should have some effect on your businesses."

"My personal life remains just that," Sakura spoke. "Regardless of what I do outside of work, I refuse to allow my personal life to effect the work I do."

"Personal things are left out of work," Sasuke added. "There should be no need for it to effect work and anything with the capability of doing just that should never have been done in the first place."

"But-"

* * *

"_Big brother look what I found mommy."_

"_Mommy said that you need to get washed up," Kiba yelled out of the kitchen door as Sakura ran into him._

_The pair fell to the floor and a small cry was heard from the girl. Kiba looked up to see Sakura crying over a crushed flower._

"_It-it-it's"_

"_Sakura," Kiba reached out to pat the child's head. "Sorry. Let's see if we can find mommy a whole lot more before we have to eat."_

"_Pr-promise," Sakura sniffed._

"_Pinky promise," Kiba smiled. "Let's get Akamaru and go find some more."_

"_Yay! Akaru," Sakura smiled, expression completely changing. "Akaru! Akaru! Come play with Sakura and big brother."_

"_Arf!" a ball of white fur came bounding out the house and jumped on the child, licking her face while she giggled._

"_Akaru, we got an imporstant mission. We gotta find more pretty flowers. Otay?"_

"_Arf arf arf," the pup wagged his tail energetically before tearing down the porch in search of the precious flowers. After a moment of waiting, there was a bark and the children followed the sound._

"_Found it," Sakura smiled. She kissed the pup on his nose before pulling Kiba to the flower bush and picking the blossoms._

"_Achoo," Kiba sneezed and Akamaru followed suit._

"_Hehe…" Sakura giggled before finishing her task and running with Kiba and Akamaru into the house. "Mommy, mommy, mommy look." The pinkette held out her arms full of flowers to the older female._

_The older female chuckled and took the blossoms from the child before kissing her, Kiba and Akamaru on the head._

"_These are lovely," she smiled. "Where shall we put them?"_

"_Arf."_

"_I agree Akamaru. The pretty vase you all got for me for my birthday needs some pretty flowers."_

_The three followed patiently behind their mother and watched as she placed the flowers in the vase._

"_Mmmm…Colour," a male walked out of the study and wrapped his arms around his wife. "My children have been in the garden again."_

"_Daddy," Sakura ran up to her father and hopped into his arms. "Sorry I couldn't find any flowers but Kiba made a pretty picture."_

"_And where's this picture?"_

"_Akamaru?" Kiba asked the pup. The white ball ran out of the room and returned a moment later with a neatly drawn picture of the five of them._

"_Well now we have to frame this," the male placed Sakura down before holding up the picture._

* * *

"Pig get me vodka now."

"No."

"What's that porky?" Sakura glared at the blonde.

"I said no air strip head."

"Take the freaking bottle already," Kiba pulled out a bottle of clear liquid and handed it to Sakura.

"Already?" Itachi asked, walking into the backroom.

"I hate those people," Sakura huffed before taking a drink straight from the bottle.

"Forgive my sister," Kiba apologised. "She usually waits till at least an hour after these things before insulting them."

"Naruto," Sasuke motioned for his best friend to follow him as he walked.

"What teme?"

"Kill all those fuckers," Sasuke looked on the verge of a meltdown. "I can't take anymore about my personal life and people telling me that I'm not qualified and so on."

"I'll get the booze," Naruto nodded and walked toward the mini bar in the corner.

"PUT THAT BOTTLE DOWN NOW!"

"Piss off Tsunade," Sakura ignored the older woman and took another swig.

"Tsunade you really should let the child have some leeway," Orochimaru said, following the blonde the room.

"Get laid Tsunade," Jiraiya commented.

"EH! Ero-sennin!" Naruto pointed a finger at the white-haired male.

"Huh? Naruto?" Jiraiya asked slowly.

"I'll assume you two know each other," Sakura said looking between the two.

"Godchild," Jiraiya answered.

"Didn't know you had one," Kiba pulled the half empty bottle from Sakura only to take a swig.

"Okay boss so here are the…" Deidara trailed of after catching sight of everyone in the room. "I'm confused."

"My aunt, Tsunade Senju and uncles, Orochimaru and Jiraiya," Sakura introduced. "Their fraternal triplets and my father's older siblings."

"You're related to medical genius Tsunade Senju, ex-mayor and successful business man Orochimaru and Icha Icha author Jiraiya!" Deidara looked at Sakura as though there were several heads coming out of her body.

"It's well-known advisor before author Blondie," Jiraiya pointed out.

"Never thought the old pervert would correct that," Kiba snickered.

"Now, now Kiba," Orochimaru looked at his nephew. "There's no need to be shocked. Your uncle has he moments few as they may be."

"So uncle what'd you think?" Sakura asked.

"I'm glad you didn't lose you temper," Orochimaru replied. "Thought Tsunade was close to losing it for you."

"S-Sakura?" Hinata nudged the pinkette and whispered in her ear.

"Ah fudge cakes," Sakura clicked her tongue before standing and excusing herself, Ino and Hinata right behind her.

"What do we do?" Ino asked.

"Sort it out. The less time the better. No need to let anyone know."

"Should I-I ask Vicky to locate the problem?"

"When she's found the problem, let Tenten know and she can sort it out."

"Sakura, Tenten works for Hyuga Inc."

"And Neji is letting her help when she is needed."

"Very well."

"I-I'll let Vicky and Tenten k-know."

* * *

"_Big brother?"_

"_Wha-what's the matter Sakura?"_

"_I'm scared."_

"_Why? What happened?"_

"_I had a bad dream."_

"_So tell mommy."_

"_Mommy and daddy went out."_

"_Oh."_

"_Could I sleep by you and Akaru?"_

"_Fine," Kiba lifted the blanket so she could climb under. The pinkette snuggled next to Akamaru and looked over the sleeping pup to her brother._

"_I'm scared that something's gonna happen to mommy and daddy."_

"_They'll be okay. Daddy will protect mommy and mommy won't let anything bad happen to daddy."_

"_Otay."_

* * *

"Itachi?"

"What can I do for you Sasuke?"

"Did you know that their parents died today?"

Itachi lifted his head and watched his brother spin the small silver globe on his desk. The younger Uchiha stopped and sat down in the seat in front of him.

"Whose parents?"

"I did some research and found out the today is Sakura and Kiba's parents eighteenth death anniversary."

Itachi lifted a brow.

"When Sakura was speaking about how she learnt about the business world, she mentioned that she never had her father to teach her. After a little research I found that her parents were killed in what seems like an accidental car crash."

"Seems like?"

"Haruno Tech was about to take over a chain of stores. The would-be heir was angry that his father was selling the company just before he could claim the business. When asked to comment on the Haruno's deaths, he simply said that the universe wanted him to have a chance at claiming his birthright."

"And?"

"He was later found guilty of arranging for a driver to crash into the Haruno's limo."

"Aa," Itachi closed his laptop and looked closer at his younger brother. "If I may, why are you so interested?"

"I just am okay," Sasuke snapped. "It's just that they were brought up for almost their entire lives without parents."

"Life is never fair Sasuke," Itachi stood and stretched. "It's sad that Sakura and Kiba lived for eighteen years without parents but they still go on, honouring what their parents left behind."

"Aa."

"You wanna visit the grave? I bet mom is rolling in her grave at the thought that her baby is doing such shameful things when he should be resting."

"Shuddup," Sasuke smirked. "She's probably waiting to rise and smack you over the head with a rolling pin for letting me get into all sorts of trouble."

"Che," Itachi smirked. "You're the sinful one. I tried to stop you."

"Yeah, 'Sasuke, don't go kill yourself.' Ever so persuasive."

-smirk-

-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-

An: Hope you liked it. I just wanted to explain what happened with Sakura and Kiba's parents. The mini-flashbacks will play some significance in one of the coming chapters.

Please review... I like reading them -puppy eyes- one review gets you a cuddle with Akamaru ^_^


	6. Tickle Me Dead

-tip toe tip toe _squeak_- Fudge it.

Hehehe... Hi...It's been a while ne? -everyone glares at author- _gulp_

Um so... I'm currently writing exams and 'studying'. With that in mind, I decided that I was feeling inspired and I just happened to be studying while typing...

Yeah my parents didn't believe that either. Anyways... here's the next chapter. Hope you all like it. I worked super hard to type as much as I could when I could.

**Dedicated to**: mUmaRhz – your review motivated me to get my ass into gear. And to everyone else who reviewed. I really appreciate you taking the time to read this.

Now enough talk and on with the show...

_-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-_

**Chapter 6**

Tickle Me Dead

Itachi grumbled as he walked along the edges of the rooftop. He was more than thoroughly annoyed that he had to be on patrol duty in Sasuke's place. Sadly, being the older brother he could hardly let his brother patrol the city when he had seven stitches in his leg and barely managed to keep up the illusion that he could walk properly.

"Annoying," he spoke to the air.

Gazing up at the stars, he mentally pointed out the different constellations.

"It would look much better out in the country, wouldn't you agree?"

Itachi's head shot up and his gaze landed on a hooded figure. From their posture, voice and figure he knew that it was a female.

"I'm going to guess that you're the hero's brother," she spoke.

"And you're the nice person who put the knives in his leg."

"However did you guess?" Sakura walked up to him and jumped up onto the ledge to reach his height. She lifted his chin and gave a small smirk. "Are both of you this good looking? Now I really want to see what's under those glasses."

"Such wishful thinking," Itachi grabbed her wrist and pulled her down from the ledge. "Didn't you have a bullet in your shoulder?"

"What can I say? Magic maybe," Sakura leaned up until their faces were scant an inch apart. "Tell your brother that I'll be a good girl for the next week. That should give him a while to recover. Also when he gets back, he and I are gonna play a little game."

"And what if I don't?"

"Then you don't," Sakura whispered in Itachi's ear. "I won't be doing anything illegal for seven days so you don't have to worry about me."

"I find that hard to believe," Itachi retorted.

"Look, I heal quick. I doubt your brother can heal as fast as me. Other than that, I need a vacation from theft and I have important things to take care of during the day unless you want me to commit theft."

"Take your vacation in jail," Itachi's grip on her wrist tightened.

"Meany," Sakura leaned up and placed a kiss on his cheek. "See ya."

Before Itachi could blink, she had slipped out of his grip and was already moving away from him. Within seconds she had disappeared from his sight. Itachi sighed and moved to head back to the mansion. With the Fatale Seductress out of the way for the next week, he had little to nothing to worry about.

"Wait. How the hell'd she know we were brothers?"

_-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-_

"SA-KU-RA!" Kiba yelled in a sing-song voice while jumping on her bed.

"Shut the fuck up moron," Sakura pulled the covers over her head and snuggled deeper into her pillow.

"Arf," Akamaru gripped the covers between his teeth and tugged them down far enough for him to climb under and snuggle up next to Sakura.

"Traitor," Kiba said, poking the small lump under the blankets. He was met with a muffled bark from Akamaru and a triumphant giggled from Sakura.

"Forehead, get the hell up," Ino said, walking in.

"I hate you people."

"Sakura-chan," Hinata spoke up. "There are m-many things that need y-your attention today. I-if you don't mind, w-would you please take care o-of them early so you can r-relax later."

"I like Hinata more," Sakura stated while pushing the covers off her. "She and Akamaru are nice. The two loudmouths…screw you both."

"Che," Ino scoffed at her.

"Hinata, what's on the agenda today?" Sakura reluctantly got out of bed and walked into the bathroom.

"Well there's quite a bit of paperwork for you to go through and documents that need your approval."

"Ino can handle it. Anything you deem important feel free to forge my signature or bring it to my attention later."

"Everyone that's moving here will be arriving today."

"Kiba can go."

"Hey!" Kiba was about to protest when Tsunade came waltzing through the door.

"Kiba, my wonderful nephew," Tsunade smiled. "WHY THE HELL AREN'T YOU ANSWERING YOUR PHONE CALLS?"

"Um…about that…see I have to be going," Kiba grabbed Akamaru. "Gotta check and see that everyone is here and happy." Kiba winked at Hinata before running out of the penthouse.

"Yell down the building why don't you Tsunade?" Sakura muttered while washing her hair.

"What's that you ungrateful brat?" the vein on Tsunade's forehead was twitching.

"Nothing," Sakura said all too quickly. She was in no mood to start an argument so early in the day. "Why are you here anyway?"

"I've been trying to inform all you unresponsive people that we have a problem," Tsunade glanced behind her. "SHIZUNE!"

"C-Coming T-Tsunade-sama," Shizune hurriedly ran into the room. "You really need to calm down Tsunade-sama."

"What was that!"

"N-nothing," Shizune looked highly stressed out by her mentor.

"So what's this problem?" Sakura asked, walking out of the shower.

"Well there seems to be a bit of a problem getting all of the components you need to get Vicky up and running."

"_What_ _did_ _you_ _say_?" the vein on Sakura's forehead began to twitch.

Shizune cringed at the temperamental pinkette and her similarities to Tsunade. _It's scary how alike those two are._

"The components are unavailable forehead. Are you deaf or something?"

"Shut your trap pig," Sakura had calmed down instantaneously. She went to her cupboard and glanced over at Hinata. "Hinata what do I have to do today?"

"W-well…" Hinata glanced down at her planner. "Now all you really have to do is attend lunch with Orochimaru at twelve and tennis at seven with Kiba."

"Good," Sakura smiled. "Get whatever components that are available and bring them in. Today Vicky will at least get a temporary place to live in."

"Sometimes I think that Vicky's your child," Ino sighed.

"Bingo," Sakura winked.

_-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-_

"So how'd it go?" Sakura asked while serving. She was more than happy with relaxing the entire day through while setting up Vicky's area.

"Shuddup," Kiba returned the tennis ball and the game officially began.

"It couldn't have been that traumatic."

"You try dealing with Sai and his fake smiles. Creepy bastard."

"I deal with him on a daily basis. At least your nickname is fitting."

"Doggy-boy. Hilarious."

"He doesn't call you ugly or hag so quit complaining."

"Point taken."

"So," Sakura hit the ball and sent it flying over Kiba's head. "How's that _thing_."

"Asked with such disdain," Kiba smirked and fetched the ball before serving it back in. "Why do you have such issues."

"She's a cow, gold-digger, slut…the list goes on."

"Good sex," Kiba stuck out his tongue only to have the ball hit him in the face.

"I don't care. I don't like her."

"Saki…"

"Whatever. I'm making my perspective heard," Sakura's eye caught a glimpse of raven. Her distraction was a second too long and the ball hit her square in the head. "WHAT THE HELL!"

"You were distracted," Kiba began laughing. "What are you looking at anyways?" He looked over in the direction Sakura had been looking in and smirked. "Tsk, Saki you really shouldn't be looking at such people that way. Not when they're going to be your business partners soon."

"Stuff you," Sakura threw the ball back at him.

"Let's say hi," Kiba ran out of the private court before Sakura could protest and quickly located the object of her attention. "Yo Sasuke."

Said Uchiha turned with moderate surprise and nodded in greeting.

"Hi," Sakura said awkwardly from behind Kiba. She looked passed her brother's shoulder and saw Itachi, Deidara and Naruto. "Hello."

"Hiya Sakura," Naruto gave her a big smile. "Whatcha guys up to?"

"Tennis," Kiba held out his racket. "I take you guys are shooting some hoops." He nodded at the ball under Naruto's arm.

"Teme can't play because he's a pussy and can't take a little pain so it's gonna be a boring game."

"Shut up dobe."

"What he means is that thanks to Sasuke's carelessness, he's unable to play this game and our attempts of two on one is really no fun at all," Deidara spoke.

"Why don't you join Kiba?" Naruto asked, ever present smile glowing.

"Saki?"

"Go ahead," Sakura tried pushing her brother out of her way. "Move you massive thing!"

"Sheesh, stop being so mean Sakura," Kiba smirked and dodged a punch aimed his way. He winked at her before following Deidara and Naruto to the court.

"I'm slightly surprised to see you here Miss Haruno," Itachi smiled at her.

"Don't be so formal. It makes me feel old," Sakura sighed. "Kiba wanted to play tennis and seeing as how I'm the only one willing to play against him here I am."

"Well I'd better get going before Naruto and Deidara try tearing each other apart," Itachi said before excusing himself, leaving Sakura and Sasuke alone.

"So Sasuke," Sakura smiled. "Are you busy two days from now? The team that is moving to Konoha should more or less be settled in their temporary offices and I'd like to introduce you and Itachi to more department heads."

"Sure," Sasuke agreed before the pair of them went to watch the basketball game.

_-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-_

"Ugly."

"Dickhead."

"Wonderful," Ino sighed. She looked between Sai and Sakura and was sure that Sakura was about to rip the artist's head off.

"Hello Gorgeous," Sai smiled at her.

"Hi Sai," Ino let a dreamy look appear on her face. It was no secret that she was irrevocably in love with Sai and had been for quite a while.

"Get a room," Kiba made a gagging sound. Kiba and Sai had hated each other from day one. Both were far too opposite to get along and had never tried rectifying the problem.

"E-Everyone, they're here," Hinata spoke from the door of the building.

They were currently using a warehouse to temporarily conduct business until the extensions to the Uchiha Corp building was complete.

After greeting those they were acquainted with, Sakura introduced Sai as her designs head and Temari as her construction head.

"A famous painter and a Sabaku. You really have all the luck," Itachi commented.

"As do you," Sakura replied.

Sasuke and Itachi had brought along their designs manager, Shikamaru Nara and projects manager, Kakashi Hatake.

"This is definitely going to make an interesting combination," Sasuke observed on his way back to Uchiha Corp.

"Indeed it will," Itachi glanced out of the window. "Sakura really has come up with an interesting team."

_-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-_

"SSSSakura," Orochimaru called as he walked through the penthouse.

"Hold on," Sakura's voice was muffled and he assumed she was getting changed. His theory was proved right when she walked out of her room.

"You might want to change again," he calmly stated.

"Why?"

"It sssseems assss though ssssomeone really doessssn't like you and SSSSasuke."

"Why?" Sakura yawned. She walked over to the mini bar and pulled out a cola soda before plopping on one of the couches.

"There'sss a hit on both of you," Orochimaru said while sitting down. "One of your businessss rivalsss has issued a hit on both of you. The most obvious time to pull it off is two dayssss from now when the public ssssigning takes place."

"Do you have any idea who wants us dead?"

"I would guessss that it'ssss Zabuza," Orochimaru replied. "He'ssss had his eye on Haruno Tech for a while and hassss been waiting to trying and take over. I'm waiting for the customer'ssss details before confirming the payer."

"The order is definite?"

"Yessss."

"I'll assume the best of the best are taking the offer. The money has to be high."

"Naturally."

"I'll get going then."

"Be careful. Zabuza can't die before it'ssss confirmed."

"I know."

_-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-_

"Hey hero," Sakura called out from the ledge behind Itachi. "Whoa no need for guns."

"Precautionary measures," Itachi replied. "I thought you wouldn't be around for another five days."

"So did I," Sakura jumped down from the ledge. "How's your brother?"

"Concerned?"

"I need someone to play with. There are very few heroes with the ability to keep me entertained."

"I see," Itachi lowered his gun slightly. "In response, he's fine. He heals faster then most so he should be up and running soon."

"Good."

"Out of curiosity, how'd you know that we were brothers?"

"You both look the same but your brother is slightly taller, his voice differs from yours and you didn't start flirting with me last time."

"The latter is a definite difference between us."

"You seem more…polite and less forward."

"Should I bother asking?"

"Not particularly," Sakura dropped down into a sitting position. "Please put the gun away. I really have no urge to get bullet holes in me."

"Fine," Itachi sat on the roof's ledge and looked at the female. "Now why are you here?"

"There's been an assassination hit issued."

"And?"

"You're a hero. So is your brother. You're supposed to do something about it."

"True."

"Anyways," Sakura pulled out a piece of paper. "These are the targets. Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. Seems like they have someone who wants their companies in chaos."

"Pardon me questioning it but why are you telling me this?"

"Because people who haven't done anything wrong don't deserve to die."

"Twisted coming from a thief."

"I know," Sakura stood. "But I have issues against people who are use jealousy as a means to eliminate others and I don't particularly like people being killed for no reason either…"

_-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-_

"What did you say?" Sasuke looked up at his brother over the top of the Playboy magazine he was reading.

"You and Sakura have hits on you."

"And you know this how?"

"Your friend told me," Itachi dodged as the magazine came flying at his head.

"Shut the hell up," Sasuke wanted to snap his head off. Itachi had been teasing him about having a crush on the femme fatal and showed no signs of laying off.

"Anyways this is going to be hard to take care of," Itachi's expression went serious.

"Both of us will be in the public's eye so we can't do anything about it."

"Naruto's too loud and Deidara's too destructive."

"Kakashi?"

"He's out of town from tomorrow until next week," Itachi walked to one of the couches in Sasuke's room and draped his trench coat over the back before sitting down. "Shikamaru can't take care of it if there's full sun when everything's happening."

"Anyone else would just be making our problems others' and I have no urge to owe people favours right now," Sasuke lay back and stared up at the ceiling. "There are just too many blind spots in that area."

"So now what?"

_-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-_

_Blood lined the streets as Sakura ran among the mass of dead bodies. She looked up at the surrounding buildings, trying to pinpoint where the gunshots were coming from._

_Feeling helpless as more people were dying by the second and not having a single bullet touch her, she ran faster. She had to find a way to the rooftops. Her only hope was getting into a building and climbing the staircase but that was impossible when the buildings held no doors._

_She heard the yells and screams of all those unlucky to be hit and others who were slipping from this world._

_If only she could get to the rooftops. Then she would be able to stop the carnage. If only…_

_-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-_

Sakura woke to the sound of birds chirping outside of her window. Turning her head, she noticed that the sun had barely risen. She slowly rose from her bed and slipped out. Walking across the room to her dressing table, she lifted her cellphone and checked the time.

"Damn it."

Sakura placed the thin object back down and walked into the bathroom. Deeming a shower necessary, she stripped down and turned the taps on. Sakura stepped into the shower and slid down the wall into a seated position.

She closed her eyes and cringed when she saw the vivid images from her dream – all of the blood and screaming and being helpless to stop all of it.

Sakura let out a shaky breath and forced the images out of her head before standing and letting the water cascade over her. As she lifted her arm to reach for the shower gel, she fell to her knees.

She let out a yelp of pain as her head was flooded with more images of blood and death. The images this time were much more vivid and the set up of the area was different from before. Now she could see the bullets piercing through each person, the spray of blood that followed and hear the inevitable screams of pain with each shot.

Feeling her eyes roll back into her head, Sakura let the numbness wash over her before plunging into darkness.

_-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-_

Akamaru rose from his spot at the foot of the bed. Shaking the effects of sleep from his mind, he moved towards Kiba's head before nudging the male.

A groan was heard before Kiba turned over and promptly ignored the pup. Akamaru, far from appreciating the lack of attention resorted to other means.

"Arf."

"Nooooo…"

"Arf."

"Don't potty on my bed."

"Arf."

"Shhh…"

Akamaru began to get irritated with the human let out a sneeze before rapidly expanding his size and weight.

"Holy mother- Akamaru you're heavy!" Kiba yelled at the now huge fluffy dog perched on top of him.

"Arf."

"What?"

Giving up trying to communicate with a sleepy human, Akamaru jumped down from the bed and fetched a picture from the bedside table and dropped it in Kiba's lap.

Looking down at the picture, Kiba paled in realisation of the picture Akamaru had given to him.

"Not again."

_-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-_

Ino had barely woken when there was a loud knock on her door. Ignoring it and hoping to resume sleeping, she turned over.

"INO OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!"

"Huh?"

She recognised the sound of Kiba's voice and grumpily climbed out of bed. Bypassing the gown on the room chair, she walked straight to the door, adamant on giving him a piece of her mind.

Pulling the door open, she was about to yell back at him when she caught sight of his face. Never before had she seen Kiba look so pale. For a second she found herself wondering whether it was possible for a tanned person to go so pale.

"Gimme your keys."

"What?"

"Give me the damn keys. Sakura isn't opening and you're the only one other than her with keys."

"Slow down."

"No time. There's something wrong with Sakura."

Ino froze for a second before comprehending what was said.

"Why the hell didn't you say so sooner!

Grabbing her keys from the side table, the pair ran down the hallway to Sakura's room.

As soon as the door was unlocked, Kiba ripped the door open and bolted in. Ino was pushed aside by a full sized Akamaru and watched as the fluff ball ran after Kiba.

Ino ran in just in time to see Kiba pulling an unconscious Sakura out of the shower. Grabbing a towel, Ino began to dry her best friend off while Kiba tried to wake the pinkette.

Ino noticed that her friend's body was ice cold and that her face was contorted in a look of agony.

"Sakura," Kiba tapped her pale face. Her lips were beginning to go blue and so were her cheeks. "Wake up Sakura."

"Arf."

Akamaru pushed Kiba's hand over and began to lick the pinkette's pale face. When she didn't respond, the massive fluff ball sneezed and went back to pup size before moving toward Sakura and curling into the space between her neck and her shoulder.

As soon as the pup had laid down, he began to shiver and Kiba instantly felt the same pain that Sakura was going through.

"Ino," Kiba gasped out. "Get Tsunade. Now."

Ino turned and ran the second the command was issued. She ran straight out of the penthouse suite down the hallway to the second last room. Banging on the door, Ino tried calling out to Tsunade.

The door was flung open and Tsunade didn't get a chance to yell at her for waking her up while she was trying to sleep off a hangover because Ino had grabbed her hand and started pulling her down the corridor to Sakura's room.

"What in the-"

Stopping smack in the middle of her sentence, Tsunade's eyes grew in shock when she caught sight of Sakura's pale body, Akamaru's shivering one and Kiba on the floor next to Sakura cringing in pain.

"Kiba?"

"She-she can't get out," Kiba managed to get out. "It's like eighteen years ago only worse."

Tsunade watched her niece and nephew for a moment before snapping out of her daze and turning to Ino.

"Wake my brothers up. Tell them that it's an emergency. Then wake Shizune and Hinata. The three of you need to gather every towel you can possibly find from everyone's rooms and bring it here."

After sending Ino off, Tsunade walked over to the three and got to her knees. Placing a hand against Kiba's forehead, she instantly pulled it back when it burnt. Doing the same to Sakura, she felt a similar effect.

Jiraiya came pottering in, in just his boxers while Orochimaru followed in sleeping shorts and a large shirt.

"Tssssunade…" Orochimaru caught sight of the blonde before his eyes landed on Sakura. "Move."

Pushing past Jiraiya, Orochimaru moved until he was right next to the bed. Grabbing hold of Kiba's arm, he pulled the male away from Sakura and pushed him towards Jiraiya.

"Get him into an ice cold shower now. Boy, you should know better than to touch your sister when she's like this. It'll only cause both of you pain. And take the pup with you."

Picking Akamaru up, he flung the pup at Kiba. Akamaru gave a yelp as he was so violently passed before the pair were flung into the bathroom by Jiraiya.

Reaching under Sakura's pillow, Orochimaru pulled out a knife. Swiftly, he cut each of his palms before passing the knife to Tsunade. Performing the same act and passing the knife over to Jiraiya, the three then stood over Sakura and linked hands.

Tsunade and Orochimaru each placed a hand on Sakura's forehead and the trio began to murmur a healing chant. The blood began to seep into Sakura's skin and in an instant, her face was flushed with colour.

Sakura took in a deep breath as her eyes flew open. Gasping for air, she sat, fingers gripping the sheets around her to the point of tearing them.

Tsunade began to heal the wounds on her and Jiraiya's hands while Orochimaru patted the female's back. As soon as she was done, Jiraiya and Orochimaru switched places.

Once Sakura had regained her breath, fell back against the pillows, eyes closed. "It's not just an assassination."

"What issss it then SSSSakura?"

"What are you people talking about?" Tsunade looked at the Orochimaru for answers.

"They're planning on wiping everyone out. Shareholders, investors, reporters, anyone that's going to be in that square. It's a massacre."

"That makessss no ssssensssse."

"And it's not Zabuza."

"Who?"

"Some bitch with long black hair. That's all I managed to see before the pain flooded through me."

"Would someone please inform me as to what is going on?" Tsunade finally demanded.

_-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-_

Sakura sat on the couch, lodged in as far as she could go and was blowing the lock of hair that kept on falling in her face.

"Can I please sleep now?"

"No." Orochimaru looked up from his laptop at the pinkette. "You look like you're three again."

"Shuddup."

Sakura stood from the couch and stretched before proceeding towards the mini fridge and pulling out a bottle of cola.

"Tssssunade issss going to freak out."

"She's a sake addict, Jiraiya's a porn addict, Kiba's a sex addict and you're a work addict. I'm entitled to be a cola addict."

"You have more addictionsssss than jusssst that."

"So?"

"Jusssst don't let her ssssee."

"No problemo."

There was a moment of silence between the pair before Sakura asked the question that was bugging her.

"Uncle?"

Orochimaru stopped working and closed his laptop, giving her his undivided attention. It was rare after all for her to call him uncle instead of by his name.

"Yessss."

"Why does Kiba feel my pain when I'm like that?"

Thinking about the answer for a moment, Orochimaru contemplated answering.

"You brother and you are connected by more than jusssst blood. It'ssss the ssssame with Tsunade, Jiraiya and I. The difference though issss that Kiba hassss to be touching you to feel your pain. And assss long either Akamaru or Kiba touch you, they can feel everything you feel."

"I don't like that explanation very much."

"It'ssss the unfortunate cursssse of being born with sssssiblingssss in our family. They feel the ssssstrong emotionssss that you feel and vice verssssa."

"So about the dream-"

"It's a premonition," Jiraiya said while walking in. "Or if you prefer, call it a vision."

"I'd like to stick with dream," Sakura spoke with scepticism. "I don't believe in premonitions."

"Yet you, like others in the family, experience them."

"They're dreams," Sakura gave him a look that told him there was no further point in arguing.

"Whatever you please," Jiraiya replied while situating himself on one of the couches. "Did you know that there's porn on demand on cable?"

"Only you," Orochimaru gave his brother a look of disgust before looking over at Sakura. "Complete your quessssstion."

"Right," Sakura looked down at the soda bottle in her hands. "Why am I getting them?"

"They're forewarnings," Jiraiya answered, "of events to come. In your case, going by past experience, the more intense the dream and the further in you go, the closer you are to the even happening."

"So in other words, this is all going to happen in the immediate future?"

"SSSSomething like that."

"Elaborate."

Orochimaru glanced over at Jiraiya and the pair's eyes caught, silently agreeing on something. Jiraiya was the one that offered the explanation.

"Based on what we've seen over the years, when you start dreaming there's usually a week that you will dream and the event happens on the seventh day."

"Sounds biblical."

"What issss amazing about thissss time assss oppossssed to the resssst, issss that you and Kiba remember everything."

Sakura looked at him in confusion. "What does that mean?"

"Sakura, this isn't the first time that it's happened since your parent's death. There have been many other instances where we've had to pull you out of your sleep in order to keep you alive. Usually you're conscious long enough to tell us what happened before you pass out and everything is erased from your memory."

"Kiba ussssually feelssss your pain and once you're unconsciousssss again, he doesn't remember any of it happening. The only one that can ever remember issss Akamaru."

Jiraiya straightened in his seat. "We don't know why this happens. It could be your mind trying to block everything out. Who knows? But the point is that something was different. Much more different and the fact that you knew and remembered ever detail of the dream is…unsettling."

"So I'm a complete freak then," Sakura joked. Her expression lightened for a moment before darkening. "You said seven days."

"Yeah."

"Then the square where the public signing is taking place isn't where it's happening," Sakura's grip on the bottle tightened. "And that means that we still don't have a way to stop the assassination order from being carried out."

_-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-_

Dun dun dah...

AN: Okay so hopefully you enjoyed the chapter and it regain your attention...assuming it had it in the first place O.o Drop a review and tell me what you thought. Since I only have a week of exams -coughthreedayscough- I'm going to try my hardest to magic me some inspiration and get typing on all of my stories. There is something... small...


	7. Public Stand

Hi hi. Sorry for the long wait. While fooling around on my computer, I accidentally managed to delete all of my stories and have been working on recovering and rewriting what I could. So again, sorry about that.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I merely wish to manipulate the awesome characters that Kishi-sama has created and praise him for the awesome characters that I write about.

Dedicated to: SasoLOVE111; Akatsuki Sakura Uchiha; zenbon zakura (love your name ^_^); mUmaRhz; Neko the kawatta cat; nanamisakurachan; rainbow spell; Minnie-Me; Helen delia; BlueCarnation and Yuuki-Hime 2097 – all of you guys really motivated me to get a move on in updating :)

_-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-_

_**Previously:**_

"_They're forewarnings," Jiraiya answered, "of events to come. In your case, going by past experience, the more intense the dream and the further in you go, the closer you are to the even happening."_

"_So in other words, this is all going to happen in the immediate future?"_

"_Sakura, this isn't the first time that it's happened since your parent's death. There have been many other instances where we've had to pull you out of your sleep in order to keep you alive. Usually you're conscious long enough to tell us what happened before you pass out and everything is erased from your memory."_

_Jiraiya straightened in his seat. "We don't know why this happens. It could be your mind trying to block everything out. Who knows? But the point is that something was different. Much more different and the fact that you knew and remembered ever detail of the dream is…unsettling."_

"_So I'm a complete freak then," Sakura joked. Her expression lightened for a moment before darkening. "You said seven days."_

"_Yeah."_

"_Then the square where the public signing is taking place isn't where it's happening," Sakura's grip on the bottle tightened. "And that means that we still don't have a way to stop the assassination order from being carried out."_

_-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-_

**Chapter 7**

**Public Stand**

Waking with a scream of pain, Sakura clutched her head to try and regain her balance and composure. As the images of blood and death flooded her mind, she bolted off the couch and had barely made it to the bathroom before emptying her stomach contents into the toilet.

Hunched over the porcelain bowl, her mind replayed the scene over and over again. She could practically smell the stench of blood and charred flesh in her lucid moments. Shutting her eyes, she only saw corpses lining the town square along with those annoying fliers that Ino had been getting ready for the public signing.

Stiffening in realisation at her own mistake, Sakura was jolted by the thought that crossed her mind. The fliers were to be handed out at the signing tomorrow to inform and promote the merger with Uchiha Corp. If she was seeing that in her dream then-

"OROCHIMARU?" Sakura ran out of the bathroom to look for her uncle.

She saw his laptop on the table where he had last been and his coffee mug still filled with streaming coffee could only mean that he had just recently stepped out. It was probably the reason she had fallen asleep in the first place.

Yelling his name out once more, Sakura frantically searched the penthouse suite before yanking open the door and running into the hallway. She ran to Tsunade's door and pounded on it.

"WHAT!" Tsunade yelled.

"I was wrong," Sakura spoke with utter mortification.

Once she caught sight of Sakura's state of distress, her expression darkened and she ushered Sakura into the suite. Walking Sakura to a couch and handing her the half-empty bottle of sake she had been drinking, Tsunade sat next to her and wait patiently for her niece to calm down.

"I was wrong," Sakura repeated. "It's going to happen tomorrow at the public signing. In my dream, I saw those fliers that Ino's been preparing."

"Where's Orochimaru?"

On cue, there was a knock at the door before it was flung open. Standing in the doorway was Orochimaru with his hand poised in mid-knock and next to him was Jiraiya, who had just kicked the door open, standing on one leg and the other still in the air. Turning almost robotically to look at the moron next to him, Orochimaru glared at his sibling before using his still poised hand to push the other male off balance.

Walking into the room with a predatory grin of satisfaction, Orochimaru moved out of Jiraiya's reach and sat next to Sakura. Ignoring the groan of pain that the white haired male made, Sakura began to fill her uncle in on what she had seen.

"The reason that I left you unattended wassss because I just received a call from my contact. He ssssaid that the hit was indeed sssscheduled for tomorrow and that the public masssssacre was to ensure that both Haruno Tech and Uchiha Corp would be devalued to the point where it would ssssell for almost nothing due the horrid publicity," Orochimaru stated.

Tsunade clapped her hands together and stood. "There's only one thing to do now and that's to make sure that none of that happens."

"That's all good and well but we still don't have a plan," Sakura stated.

"You have a big brain," Tsunade smirked, "use it."

_-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-_

"We have less than say sixteen hours to come up with a foolproof plan that will not only save Sasuke and Sakura's asses but will also make things less publicised un."

Deidara blew a wayward strand out of his face in annoyance. He knew that he was reaching his wits end when his nervous tick made itself known. He only ever resorted to adding 'un' to the end of his sentences whenever he was overstressed or really pissed off.

"Hn," Sasuke huffed in annoyance.

He was sitting at the large bay window that overlooked the gardens at the Uchiha manor, elbows propped on his knees and his head resting on the bridge that him intertwined fingers made. Using every cell in his body to think of a plan, Sasuke too was at his wits end.

"I dunno why you guys are stressing," Naruto grinned.

Naruto of course was drawing little stick people on the strategy board that they had pulled into the study and his favourite muse to draw was a stick Sasuke with his hair on fire. Naturally, he wasn't taking any of this seriously and was rather bored with the brooding Uchiha and the overstressed blond.

"You know that we're going to have to do _that_ Sasuke," Itachi commented from his seat behind his laptop.

"I prefer not to think about _that_," Sasuke sighed. "Sadly though, I have nothing better at the moment."

Sighing as a signal of surrender, Sasuke pushed himself off the ledge of the bay window and moved himself over to the strategy board that housed Naruto's artwork. Flipping the board over onto the clean side and laying it horizontally, he then took away the blond's markers and shooed him away from the board.

"Meany," Naruto pouted and flung himself onto one of the numerous couches.

Sasuke took a moment to locate the remote for the projector before projecting a three dimensional model of the city square onto the board. "There are seven buildings that surround the city square," he pointed to each of them. "That means that there are seven different buildings that the assassins could target Sakura and me from."

"Then there's the fact that one of those buildings holds a three story car park with just about no security checks whatsoever," Itachi added as he pointed out a building to the left of the square. "Then there's the fact that the Gatou Corporation is directly in front of where the public is to be addressed. If anyone is on the rooftop, they'll have a clear shot."

"So how are we doing this un?" Deidara asked.

"Well," Itachi looked rather weary of what he was about to say. "Sasuke and I have had a plan for a while now," he admitted. "The problem is that it involves you and Naruto and you two aren't the most subtle at handling things."  
"Hey!" Naruto got up in protest. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"You're too loud and destructive you moron," Sasuke stated.

"Teme!"

"As much as I'd like to argue with Sasuke," Deidara spoke up, "he has a point un."

"Stop saying un!" Naruto yelled.

"Make me un!" Deidara yelled back.

The blonds stood, ready to pound the living shit out of the other for the simple satisfaction of determining the alpha of the two. Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Sasuke took two of the markers that he still had and flung one at each of them, effectively distracting them from the other for the time being.

"And this is the reason that this plan was our last resort," Itachi sighed. Mentally, he was cursing the fact that Kakashi wasn't here as he would be able to handle this without a problem.

"Aa," Sasuke agreed.

Before anything else could be said, the doors to the study were opened and Shikamaru walked in. He was soon followed by a suit clad Neji who looked none too happy to be there.

"This had better be good Uchiha," Neji addressed Sasuke, "because I did not just drop one of my biggest clients for nothing."

"Whooo," Naruto commented, "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."

"And clearly didn't get laid," Deidara added.

Sending the blonds a look that could reduce even the most fearless of men into a sobbing heap of snot and tears, Neji turned his gaze upon Sasuke. "Well?"

"We need your help Hyuga," Sasuke reluctantly admitted.

"With?"

As Sasuke finished explaining the situation to him, Neji raised an eyebrow. Having dealt with Sakura for years and considering that she was his one of his cousin and girlfriends' best friends, he knew enough about her to know about her abilities.

What had him at a loss though was the fact that she had asked for help from such an unlikely source. He knew that Sakura would sooner cut off her own leg than resort to asking for help from whoever played the role of hero in the city so she must be at a loss at handling the situation considering her role in it all. She was after all one of those people who was against unjustified murder and assassination due to what had happened with her parents.

"I'll help," Neji responded after a moment. "But there's only so much I can do since I can only be in one place at a time."

"That's where everyone else comes in," Sasuke spoke. "You will take on the rooftop of the Gatou Corporation, Naruto and Deidara will use their abilities to monitor all of the exposed parking lots while you act as a guide to direct them."

"In the event that there's anyone in the crowd, Shikamaru will be there since his shadows will be more effective on the ground," Itachi added.

The lot of them nodded in agreement before they began to talk out the intricacies of the plan.

_-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-_

Sakura adjusted her headset before peering out of the helicopter window. Going over the plan once more in her mind, she was thankful that Orochimaru had come up with a way to stop anything bad from happening and after her most recent dream, she was sure that she knew the situation inside and out.

"Eagle Eyes, you ready?" Sakura asked the girl in front of her.

Hinata raised her head from her laptop to nod a confirmation before resuming her task. She was to make sure that she could direct Sai to where he needed to send his ink animals to attack and tell Sakura where to aim.

Checking her guns once more, Sakura scoffed at the fact that she would have to use them as opposed to knives. It was a pity that knives would be rather useless in a scenario such as the one that was about to occur. Radioing to check if everything was alright with everyone else, she got into position.

With Jiraiya and Orochimaru using their animal summons to take care of some of the more difficult areas and Sai using his ink animals to cover her from the sky, she was sure she would be fine. Then there was Akamaru, Tsunade and Shizune on the ground for any of those brave souls that dare try anything from the crowd and to assist in evacuating the public from the area.

Kiba and Ino were to be in front of the public as a last resort and to cover for herself and Hinata with the ruse that the pair of them were caught in a bad spot of traffic and would be handling things until the proceedings. Spotting the pair on the jumbo screen standing next to Itachi and Sasuke, Sakura opened the helicopter door.

As the proceedings began, she received a nod from Hinata that everything was on schedule. On cue, the first shot was fired. The sound sent the crowd into a frenzy and that was Sakura's sign to begin.

Jumping from the helicopter, she pulled out her pair of guns and turned her body to face upward. As directed by Hinata, she began to fire in the directions she was told. Mentally cringing at the amount of assassins that were called in for the job, she continued with her task. She let out a cry of pain as she was hit in the side before shooting in the direction that she was shot at from.

She flipped her body around once she was three stories away from the ground, counting on Orochimaru, Jiraiya and Sai to take care of everyone else. Quickly pocketing her guns, she grabbed onto one of the power lines that ran between a set of light poles. She swung herself onto the stage where and landed next to Sasuke before pulling out her gun once more.

Moving behind him before anyone could react she held the gun to head and pulled a knife to his throat. Walking backwards, with a glance every so now and again, she had managed to make in into the building behind them. She pulled him into the elevator and hit the button for the top floor.

Once the doors had closed, she dropped her arms and pushed him off to the side of the elevator. Giving Sasuke a glance, she groaned in pain as the bullet in her side throbbed.

"Do me a favour and don't do anything stupid," she spoke.

Putting her gun back into its holster, she then reached into her pocket and pulled out a small bag. Pulling out a pair of medical tweezers, she made a face before pushing the metal into her side to pull out the bullet. Sparing a second once the bullet was out, she saw that they had another ten stories to go before they reached the rooftop.

Sakura pulled out a thick piece of gauze and medical tape from the bag before placing the bullet and tweezers in. Cleaning as much blood as she could before taping the wound with gauze, she then placed the bloodied gauze into the bag. Throwing the useless thing to the side, she then pulled out matches from her pocket and threw a lit match in the direction of the bag to destroy any traces of DNA.

"Stay here and try not to get shot," Sakura ordered as the elevator dinged for the top floor.

With a flick of her wrists, knives fell between her fingers and into her grasp. As the doors opened, Sakura threw the knives, seemingly in random directions. It was only once the knives hit their targets and two bodies slumped to the ground did Sasuke know that she had been aiming for the masked assassins on the rooftop.

Walking up to the closer of the two, Sakura picked the person up by the neck and pulled off their mask. Beneath the mask was a ginger haired male with a rather excessive amount of freckles peppering his cheeks.

"Who the hell are you working for!" Sakura demanded.

"'The fuck should I tell you?" he spat.

Whipping her gun out and pointing it at his companion, Sakura spoke in a low, menacing voice, "If you want your partner to live, then I suggest you answer my question."

"You wouldn't."

To prove her threat true, Sakura shot his companion in the leg and then in the arm without turning away from the man. "Answer the question," she reiterated in a creepy calm voice.

"I don't know," the assassin responded in a panicked voice. "All any of us know is that the lady that hired us has long black hair. She wore dark glasses the entire time and was covered from head to toe in leather. The reward for Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura's deaths was a million a piece. If we managed to kill Uchiha Itachi, Inuzuka Kiba or any other direct shareholder, it would be an additional half a million a pop."

Cursing under her breath, Sakura dealt a swift kick to one of the bodies before her. She saw a snake out of the corner of her eye and knew that the police would be on their way up.

Turning to face the Uchiha, she threw her gun to him. "There are no fingerprints on it so it doesn't matter to me if they dust it." She wiggled her gloved fingers at him before continuing. "I would prefer it though if you let me go. I don't want to be caught like this – it would ruin my reputation. And as cute as you are, I'm having fun teasing hero-boy."

Hearing the ding of the elevator, Sakura took off to the side of the building. She gave Sasuke a final glance before running in the opposite direction and landing on the building below.

Running to the edge of the rooftop, Sasuke heard the scuffle of boots behind him but was too busy watching Sakura run off. So she enjoyed teasing him huh? Well he enjoyed teasing her too.

_-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-_

Sakura had just managed to slip into the limo where Hinata had been waiting for her when she heard Hinata speaking to Ino over the phone.

"So how'd it go?"

Hinata smiled at her before responding. "A-All of the assassins w-were taken care of. It seems that N-Neji is friends with whoever T-Th-The Avenger is because h-he was there to help. I-I'm not quite sure who e-else was with him to help since I-I didn't have time to g-get a good l-look."

"It's no problem," Sakura smiled. "I'm just glad to hear that there was someone to help out."

As they pulled up in front of the designated area, the limo door opened and Orochimaru and Jiraiya climbed in.

"Where you seen?"

"There was no way that we could have been sssighted. We were careful to remain hidden and only used the frogssss and ssssnakesss," Orochimaru reported. "I'm ssssure Hinata told you about the added help."

"Any idea as to who it was?"

"No," Jiraiya spoke. "They were sneaky in concealing their identities. The two I handled were rather loud. One was using small explosives while the other could duplicate himself and was extremely loud."

"The two I encountered were different," Orochimaru added. "One was Neji. Hinata already confirmed this and the use of his abilities further prove this. The other was probably the brother that you mentioned."

"Did you ask Neji about this?"

"He refused to sssspeak and I felt that it was not my place to be pusssshing for an ansssswer conssssidering he would be betraying whoever'ssss trust and in turn he sssstated that he would make no mention regarding knowing our identitiessss."

"Fair enough," Sakura nodded in agreement. "So that means that the others are chakra users."

"Precisely."

"So that means that there are others in the city," Sakura more stated than asked.

"Well we haven't had time to ssssearch for any," Orochimaru pointed out. "There sssshould be more here than in any other city we've looked ssssince Konoha issss an ancient city that had been built up over time."

"Uncle," Sakura addressed Jiraiya, "You know where the archives are kept. Would you mind going through them to find out what you can about chakra users in Konoha?"

"I'll be on the next flight to Oto."

"Right then," Sakura sighed. "Time to do damage control."

_-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-_

"Deidara," Itachi's voice tore the blond away from his thoughts. "Those frogs and snakes were summons."

Not knowing why he wanted him to confirm what he already knew, Deidara did it anyways to reassure his friend. "There's no doubt about it."

"Do you have any thoughts on it?"

"Their sudden appearance was strange. I don't know about you but I didn't get a look at the frog user's face and there was nothing to hint at his identity."

Itachi remained quiet for a while before sighing. "We should be trying to find out who they are as they might present trouble later but I find myself second-guessing that idea. Sasuke has decided for the moment to leave it be since he saw a snake with the girl."

"Should I look into it?" Deidara asked.

"No," Itachi responded after a while. "But keep an eye out for anything strange. I feel like we're overlooking something but I can't remember what."

"Finally," Deidara grinned in satisfaction. "The great Itachi Uchiha can't remember something. Proof that he is in fact human."

Blinking in surprise at the blond's thoughts, Itachi let a small grin tug at his lips. Even he had to admit that it was nice feeling that he didn't know the answer to something once in a while even though there was this nagging feeling at the back of his mind.

_-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-_

Walking down the dank hallway the female scoffed. She hated this place with a passion. Couldn't he choose a place that held a little sunlight as opposed to rats and dripping water? There was honestly no reason that he couldn't do the same thing above ground instead of being a clichéd villain.

"Well?" a hooded figure asked as she emerged from the tunnel.

He was seated on a regal looking chair that was severely out of place in this dark and stone walled room. The only light came from screens placed on one wall with different pictures being projected off each.

"As you predicted, the mission was a fail," the woman dressed in leather spat.

"Did I not tell you that Sakura would find a way?"

"Shut up," she pouted. "Besides, I thought for sure Sasuke would do something."

"He's not willing to take the silly risks that Sakura takes. From what we know, Uchiha Sasuke would rather suffer through hell than have his little game of hero be exposed. It is sad however that Zabuza lives. Perhaps we can use this sacrificial lamb a little more in our game?"

"You're sick."

Her comment was only given a chuckle in response. The male shifted in his seat - crossing his legs and propping his head on his hand. The reflection of the numerous screens gave his eyes a glassed over look and the woman had to suppress the urge to shiver.

Those eyes were what made her feel some fear for the man. The vacant stare that he usually held was only transformed by the thought of destroying Sakura – her own vendetta lying with the Uchiha. Their alliance was based solely on using the other to destroy their intended targets.

"We need to pick up the pace if we want to keep them on their toes."

"I think a little get together is necessary," he spoke. "But first let's allow them to taunt each other some more. It is after all necessary that they get closer. This merger between their companies was never part of our initial plan but it has worked in our favour."

"Should I call for Dosu and his team?"

"No," he sighed. "Those little rats need only continue to work under Orochimaru and spy for me as needed. Get Haku. While Zabuza's thirst for blood is incomparable to no other, Haku's finesse is required."

"What do you plan on doing?"

"You'll see. Soon, the Uchiha will be dead and Sakura will be a figment of the past. Soon, everything we desire will be ours. In the mean time, go resume playing with your toy – his role in everything is rather perfect."

With a smile, the female happily left the confines of darkness and pulled on the wig that she was so used to wearing. She changed into clothes that wouldn't get her noticed and walked out of the small house that they were using as a base for the time being. Time to go play with her toy.

_-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-M-s-R-o-b-i-n-H-o-o-d-_

_**An: Sorry if this chapter was too AU... I apologise if that is not your cup of tea but from the start I had hinted the ability to use their Narutoverse abilities. Anyway, tell me what you thought about the chapter. I'd really like to hear your input :)**_

_**~Simone ^_~**_


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